


Yuu and the Power of Magic

by writingerror



Series: Twisted Magic! [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Character "Growth", Crossover, Friendship, Gen, Magic, Mild Language, Mild-to-Moderate Descriptions of Violence, Morally Ambiguous Characters, Spoilers, Third-Person Limited Perspective, Unreliable Narrator, Working Summary, Working tags, Working title
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:22:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 340,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26465614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingerror/pseuds/writingerror
Summary: —At the dawn of her fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Yuu finds herself waking up in an unfamiliar world known as the Twisted Wonderland. Enchanted by a completely new realm of magic and wonder, she nevertheless resolves to find a way back to Wizarding Britain. However, besieged by the colourful characters of the magical Night Raven College at every turn, Yuu is about to discover how difficult surviving her first year here will be, let alone making her way home. Especially with the darkest secret of the world right by her side—and her growing attachment to this lair of Villains.—Original take on the player character “Yuu” from Twisted Wonderland.—
Relationships: Ace Trappola & Yuu | Player (Twisted-Wonderland) & Deuce Spade, Everyone & Yuu | Player (Twisted-Wonderland), Grim (Twisted-Wonderland) & Yuu | Player (Twisted-Wonderland), Heartslabyul - Relationship, Night Raven College Staff, Night Raven College Students, Octavinelle - Relationship, Savanaclaw - Relationship, Scarabia - Relationship, Villains & Yuu | Player (Twisted-Wonderland)
Series: Twisted Magic! [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2163489
Comments: 807
Kudos: 1083





	1. The Strange Inhabitants of Night Raven College.

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimers |**
> 
>   * Harry Potter and all related entities are owned by J.K. Rowling, Warner Brothers and its intellectual owners. All rights are reserved to them.
>   * Disney’s Twisted Wonderland is owned by Aniplex and Disney (of Japan). All creative rights are reserved to the development team, the voice team, and the artist/creative director/storywriter, Toboso Yana.
>   * References to independently owned companies in the game will be spelt deliberately wrong or changed (for copyright protection and because it's fun). For example, Disney = Dixney. Coca-Cola = Coxa-Cola.
>   * This derivative work was written by an amateur for the purpose of "fun". No profit is being made except the authour's peace of mind. By proceeding, you acknowledge that you may regret reading this incoherent mess that has no bearing nor resemblance to the original works. Otherwise, you may close the window now.
> 

> 
> —
> 
> **Information about this story you should know |**
> 
> _Harry Potter_
> 
>   * Light spoilers for Harry Potter through Deathly Hallows. For the first seventy or so chapters, the focus will not involve too much of this series.
>   * Eventual spoilers for Cursed Child post chapter 70.
>   * (No spoilers for Fantastic Beasts...yet.)
>   * You don't need to know much about Harry Potter to read this story! (It might help a little though?) Please ask freely if there's something you don't get!
> 

> 
> _Twisted Wonderland_
> 
>   * Spoilers for Twisted Wonderland (the main story) up to the latest released Episode 5 in its entirety as of January 28th, 2021.
>   * Personal Story and card spoilers lurk everywhere within the chapters. See if you can spot the voice lines in everyone's dialogue!
>   * Spoilers for information found within the 「Official Guide + Setting Document Collection Magical Archives」 book (currently released only in Japan).
>   * Tangential spoilers for the official Anthologies and the serialization published in G FANTASY (Gファンタジー) magazine starting March 18th, 2021.
>   * As the game has not concluded its main story, please forgive any edits to conform to information as it is released. Edits will be marked at the bottom of the chapter in the Notes.
>   * To be honest, you don't need to know much about Twisted Wonderland to read this story either! We go through everything anyway 😂
> 

> 
> _Updates and Quality of Life_
> 
>   * Please check the end of the latest posted chapter and/or my Profile to see the next update date.
>   * All chapters were last edited on December 31st, 2020. Rereaders might notice some differences!
>   * Due to the original language of the game being Japanese, terms and details in Japanese will be explained in the Definitions within the End Notes. Feel free to ask if anything is unclear!
>   * The Tags, Title and Summary will be edited and added to pretty much constantly. So will these beginning notes.
>   * Please always feel free to contact the authour with concerns, questions, screaming about the game, and anything else! Any comments will eventually be read and responded to by me (at a snail-like pace), but if you want faster/private responses, try a DM on Twitter (see my Profile)!
> 

> 
> —
> 
> **Caution |**
> 
>   * Recommended for those with a high tolerance level. (何でも許せる方向け).
>   * Which means you should be okay with pretty much anything including bad plot, characters behaving strangely (解釈違いです！), and poor writing!!
>   * The authour is still new at this whole story-writing thing and they have no formal writing education or training. Caveat emptor. You have been warned!
> 

> 
> —
> 
> Okay. Ready? 行こうぜ Wonderland!
> 
> —

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuu falls out of Wizarding Britain and into the Twisted Wonderland.

—

Summer holidays had always been a brief reprieve—a splash of cold water to her face—a spot of zero in the tumultuous flood of magical activity that drowned her year in its current.

Yuu wondered whether she had felt her holidays to be long or short as she gazed absently out of the window of her pristinely made room in muggle England. The sun was strong, but not strong enough to pierce the lingering chill and fog that early mornings still carried with them. Everything was washed out here, reduced in intensity, so that she felt her own presence fading into the mist.

There was no point in pondering, though. The two months of beautiful, oppressive normalcy had faded into the past. Whether she cared or not—it was over.

It was time to return.

She might feel little more if anyone else did, but Yuu, just like her room, just like the scenery, was stolen by a cool, clean sensation. Bare. Empty. The snug warmth and deep night-sky ceiling of the Ravenclaw Common Room, the smiles and sneers of her classmates, the flare of her wand in her hand; it all faded back into obscurity.

She couldn’t find it within herself to care.

“ _Yuu-chan!_ ” Her mother called upstairs in Japanese. It was the first time she’d heard her voice all year.

Force of habit made Yuu strain her ears, sit up straight. Even after all these years and all her failed experiments, she could not get rid of the tiniest piece of expectation pulling at her chest. Maybe this time would be different.

“Wake your father. He’ll be the one to drop you off at the station. I’m leaving.”

Or not.

“Yes, mother,” Yuu called back, turning away from the misty window and activating the Self-Levitation Charm on her trunk by running a finger over it. She stopped by the washroom on her way over to the master bedroom to neaten her appearance, directing the trunk to the door where it settled obligingly down with a _thump_ to await her. She’d learned from experience that when she dressed more neatly, trouble tended to take longer to find her.

Yuu was no longer a small child wearing clothes too large for her frame. She straightened her clothes carefully and made sure the wrinkles were smoothed out. The solemn-looking reflection gazing back at her through a curtain of hair mirrored her movements.

A cloud passed over it.

_Aah! My most beloved lady…_

Yuu’s unfocused blue eyes snapped to attention in the mirror beneath her dark bangs. Had someone turned the television on? The sudden echo of a strong masculine voice had filled the room suddenly enough for her to jump, and the mirror had fogged like…

His voice spoke in fluent Japanese, the language her mother possessed, the language Yuu had spent the past few years learning. But she had returned her last instruction CD to the library weeks ago.

Was it just a hallucination—? But in the washroom mirror a flash of green mist obscured her face and Yuu sucked in a gasp.

_The noble, beautiful flower of evil…_

_It is you who are the most beautiful in this world!_

Yuu tensed as the mirror burst into green flame. An illusion—a spell? But using underage magic was out of the question. She had better control than that. And this green fire didn’t prickle at her skin like the feel of magic did within Hogwarts.

_—Magic mirror, on the wall. Tell me. In this world, who is the…_

She ignored the voice. In these situations, it was not wise to just sit and stare at a possibly enchanted mirror. As billows of what looked like dark emerald flames began to fill the reflection of her pale-faced surprise, Yuu’s fingers closed around her wand in her sleeve and she bent down, ready to run.

A rush of sound froze her in place. Yuu jerked her head to the right, cocking her head to listen—was it the ominous creaking of…wood? A carriage? Slowly, the clip-clop of hooves neared…but the window was shut. How could sound pass so clearly into her head?

Impossibly, a flock of ravens burst past the washroom window, their cawing piercing the barrier of her wall like it was paper. She had not seen ravens in her small town for as long as she could remember. A single black feather remained swaying, cradled in the air outside her window.

An omen.

Yuu jerked her head back to the mirror. This green fire was not like Floo Network fire. No magic she had ever experienced felt so…

_O, one who has been guided by the Mirror of Darkness._

Was it calling her? Yuu did not answer—speaking to magical artifacts lent them power. She glared at the completely green mirror and backed away one step, two.

_Take the hand of the one who is reflected in the Mirror as thine heart desires._

The mirror’s light was extinguished in a wave of pitch black—an inky substance that sent every hair on the back of her neck standing up straight. Still, Yuu could not wrench her eyes away, nor could she turn and run. Her feet refused to obey her movements any longer.

There must have been an enchantment in place, because there was no other explanation for her sluggish response times, her inability to pull out her wand. A heavy gathering of _something_ shoved down on her shoulders and smothered her mind. Yuu had never been good at resisting magic—whatever this was—and she could only watch as a large hand stretched out of the mirror entirely…

_Let’s get going soon_ , she heard someone calling, then a different voice sighing _oi. We’re leaving. Follow me._ And someone else snapping _stop dawdling, I won’t forgive tardiness._

_We have to go._

_Hurry up. Being outside is killing me._

_Shall I guide you to our destination?_

_Stop standing there in a daze._

_If you don’t come quickly, you’ll lose your head._

_Come on, let’s begin._

_Oh! You’re here! I was waiting…_

_Your hand._

“Wait,” Yuu gave up on maintaining silence. She realized with horror that her right hand was lifting towards the hand stretching out of the mirror. But the cacophony of voices all spoke in Japanese, so she abandoned her English and repeated in her mother’s native tongue, “ _Wait! What’s going on?_ ”

She received no answer. Her hand met the hand in the mirror and Yuu’s surroundings plunged out of existence.

This was not the same tug in her stomach that meant Portkey activation. It was not the squeezing vertigo of Apparition. Nevertheless, Yuu felt her heart drop dangerously as the world around her faded…

_No regrets?_ The deep voice echoed into her mind solemnly over the blood rushing in her ears.

“I’ve got nothing _but_ regrets right now!” Yuu shouted before the world tumbled into night.

—

**CHAPTER ONE | The Strange Inhabitants of Night Raven College.**

—

The hall was dark. Through her half-lidded eyes, Yuu could barely make out the dimly lit chain-links of innumerable chandeliers strung across the ceiling. A host of floating coffins glowed that same unearthly green with barely suppressed light, illuminating the room just enough for her eyes to adjust.

Nothing felt solid. Was she dreaming?

She stretched her fingers cautiously. Wiggled her toes. No pain.

Yuu sat up. As she did, she realized her socks were touching the foot of a raised dais suffused in gold, and when she raised her head, a metal-engraved mirror was floating atop the platform, illuminated with a single beam of that same light. It looked ghostly.

She scrambled to her feet and took a few wary steps back, shivering as her hands met the cold stone floor. Two hissing snakes carved into each side of the ovular mirror glinted ominously down at her, their heads sculpted in excruciating detail, before the black mirror’s glass burst into scarlet flame.

Fire! Yuu leapt backwards a step, fingernails whitening around her wand.

_The inferno that turns even tomorrow to dust._ It was the same voice again—perhaps the voice of the enchanted mirror? Yuu controlled her breathing and straightened cautiously to look up at the burning glass. It was far taller than her.

As fast as it had lit, the fire extinguished, frozen solid by a shard of ice so white it was blue. _Ice that seals even time in its tracks!_

A burst of leaves consumed the ice and ruffled Yuu’s hair. _The great tree that swallows even the sky!_

It could only be Nature magic, some artifact, something she didn’t understand if an image in a mirror was affecting the real world like this. She’d only read a little bit about it, only seen the Mirror of Erised once (and not directly). Yet this did not seem like the magic she was so used to, nor the old magick that the centaurs had shown her, nor the curious turning feeling of Time magic spinning with a Time-Turner.

She was utterly out of her element.

Yuu suppressed her panicked breathing and decided that in this situation, she shouldn’t be worrying about Traces or laws anymore, not when the surroundings were so permeated with this strange new magic that she was sucking lungful after lungful with each breath. It smelt electric. The magic (if that was what it was) glowed with impossibly bright brilliance as shards of light flew around her, illuminating her neatly arranged clothing.

The mirror went dark again. _Do not fear the power of Darkness._

It seemed as if it were talking directly into her mind, the voice echoing impossibly in the empty hall. _Now, show me your power._

“Why do I have to do something like that?” Yuu shouted back—as if in answer, everything exploded into light.

_For me!_ The mirror’s voice projected directly into her head, and she saw a great beast, outgrowing Norberta the Norwegian Ridgeback, roar with a force that rippled the air around it. _For them. And for you—time is short._

A crowd of young men in robes faced it down, some bleeding, some on their knees. Yuu gasped as the beast roared again and the mane around its neck burst into cerulean flames. Wings sprouted from its back like a great chimaera and the robed figures fell back with dismayed cries—

The beast reared back and she finally managed to see the heads of snakes protruded from its sides, dancing in the air like a hydra’s. The innumerable eyes were wide open, pupil-less, an unearthly glowing polar blue that burned and froze the air. Around it, piles of rock, columns of mountain trembled and shook and crumbled into sand. The robed young men were shouting, holding up what looked like fountain pens topped with jewels, but several had already collapsed, spent. The ground was sticky with blood.

It was clear they were fighting a losing battle.

There was no time, the mirror had said—was this a prophecy? Yet prophecies were not told through mirrors, and Professor Trelawney had never said…! Still, the terrifying sight drove Yuu to take steps forward towards the mirror, ready to draw her wand.

Yet the voice would not let her, drowning the image once again in blackness. Its deep timbre was solemn when it said slowly—

_By any means, do not let go of that hand._

—

The next time Yuu awoke, it was to a great thumping surrounding her and a small pitter-patter followed by some muttering. For one delirious moment she thought she might have been dreaming, tucked away safely in her compartment on the Hogwarts Express. What had she been dreaming about before? Her mind was hazy and disobedient.

Right. Yuu was supposed to be going to Hogwarts that day. Before—

Her washroom mirror exploded into green.

“Crap. People are gonna come soon! Gotta get a uniform fast-like…ugh…!”

The thin voice came from somewhere around her feet. Yuu’s still swimming consciousness focused on it as she tried to remember what came after. Something about fire, and ice, and…

“ _Uuuugh_. This lid is so freakin’ heavy…fine. It’s already come to this, so I’m gonna bust out my hidden move. Take that!”

The thumping intensified and the blackness around her lifted. More specifically, something covering her vision fell to the ground with a loud clatter and a rush of heat.

Yuu jerked upright just in time to miss a giant blue fireball blowing past her hair. “Holy—!” she gasped, waking up instantly and rolling to the side. Consequently, she fell out of the spot she had been lying in and collapsed onto the floor in an ungainly heap.

A catlike creature, from whom the muttering was emanating, glanced over at her and screamed. “ _Gyaaah_ ———!! Why’re you awake already!?”

Yuu gaped at him and then around at the illuminated room—it was still full of floating coffins and now, irregular patches of blue flame fizzling out into embers. She’d fallen from one of the open ones and it was still smouldering with the blue remnants of the fireball that she’d dodged. Something about these flames seemed familiar to her…

More importantly, she had never seen a creature like this, and it was _talking_. Despite the existence of magical creatures that could speak—most notably the centaurs—no rat, cat or owl had spoken directly to her like this. So her first statement was a rather stupid, “There’s a talking tanuki standing upright…”

“Who’re you calling a tanuki?! I’m the Great Grim!” The newly named Grim yelled back at her. Standing on his hind legs.

Yuu gaped at him even more obviously. This not-tanuki only came up to her calves. “Grim…?”

“Don’t forget the _Great_!” Grim corrected her. He looked almost comically human standing upright except for the twin tufts of fiery blue coming out of his ears.

Struck by a sudden headache, Yuu looked away from the ears and down to his bright blue eyes. “Um.” Her social awkwardness prevented anything else from coming out.

“Whatever. Oi, human. Pass me those clothes!” Grim pointed somewhere by where she was sitting. “If you don’t…I’ll roast you!”

At his last words a great cloud of fire burst into life behind him. Yuu flinched backwards and felt the heat and thought that she _really_ had seen that fire somewhere before. In any case, it was probably a good idea to stay as far away from those blue flames as she possibly could.

“Getting literally roasted by a tanuki would be a little _too_ original,” she muttered to herself.

Grim heard her. “I said I’m not a tanuki!” he shouted back.

“Okay Mister Not-a-Tanuki, you can get whatever you need yourself. I’m lost here, so I’m leaving before I turn into a shish kabob!”

“Oi, wait!”

Yuu pushed herself to her feet and ran past him. Eyes cataloguing exits—only one huge set of doors—she dove out of them, down a stone-paved corridor, and into what looked like a lecture hall.

Furiously thinking as she moved, Yuu wished for the first time that she had access to her Yajirushi broom—she was terrible at running and even with her hatred of flying, getting altitude was always good for gaining her bearings in a new environment. Still, now was not the time to be worrying over spilt milk.

Was this Hogwarts?

But she didn’t feel the deep undercurrent of magic that ran in the stone floors. None of the silvery ghosts missing parts of their bodies, glistening with greyish blood as they drifted aimlessly through the air. No trick stairs, no steps turning into slides.

The row of classrooms followed out to a Greek-style pavilion hallway and then to a garden. Doing her best not the trample the grass, Yuu cut straight through the patch illuminated by soft moonlight—just how long had she slept? Or was she still dreaming—thumped her way down a paved stone staircase that spiralled down and down to a long street, and finally dove back inside a building standing tall in the falling dusk. It turned out to be a huge library lit only by ghostly dots of yellow-green light she nearly mistook for fireflies. Yuu, squinting at around at the towering bookshelves, narrowly missed a book that was floating by her head.

Books didn’t float in the Hogwarts library. Any of the unrulier tomes were usually sealed.

What the hell was going on?

“Thought you could run away from my nose, you pathetic human?” Grim skidded to a stop right behind where she was staring, dumbstruck, at the rows of books fading into the darkness and the circling ones floating in front of her eyes. “Now gimme those clothes if you don’t wanna be roasted alive!”

“Wait, _my_ clothes?!” Yuu spluttered, taking a step back and clutching at her button-up sweater. “I’m wearing these!”

“I don’t— _fugya!?_ ” both of them jumped as what looked like a long snake whipped out of the darkness around Grim’s small stomach. “Ouch! What’s with this string!?”

“It’s not a string, it’s a whip! Of love!”

Yuu narrowly swallowed a scream. A tall figure had melted of the darkness of the library without either of them noticing and was standing by her.

She hadn’t noticed his entrance at all.

The first thing Yuu observed was the huge mantle the new arrival wore over a neatly pressed vest and dress shirt, because it looked like something a flamboyant villain from a Dixney movie would wear. A great fluttering amalgamation of royal blue and violet gold-embroidered fabric, it was topped off with a blanket of raven’s glossy feathers. Yuu, who had been a member of the fine arts club that barely existed at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, admired the beautifully made costume with an open mouth.

The new arrival turned to her as if he hadn’t just called whatever was holding Grim a ‘whip of love’. Too shocked to point out the ridiculousness of that name, Yuu just continued to stare as she met the gaze of a black crow-like mask that covered most of the man’s face. As he leaned forward to stare at her, a matching black top-hat tipped down over his head, exposing a small gleaming mirror attached to its blue ribbon.

“Um,” she said intelligently.

The man narrowed glowing golden eyes behind the mask. “Aah, I finally found you! You _are_ one of this year’s newly admitted students, correct?”

“What?”

“Leaving from the Door without prior permission is expressly forbidden, might I add,” the golden eyes narrowed.

They glowed like the ghost lights floating in this library.

Yuu swallowed, not knowing why those eyes put her on guard instinctively. “Sir, I—”

“Besides! Untrained magical familiars are against the school rules.”

What? “He’s not my familiar! I—”

Grim struggled as the man dragged his whip—and Grim—over to them. “Let me go! I’m not this guy’s familiar! Not the Great _Grim!_ ”

“Yes, yes, all rebellious familiars say the same thing. Be quiet for a moment, will you?”

The man retracted his whip, fished Grim up by the scruff of his neck, and covered his snout with one gloved hand. Grim’s protests were immediately muffled into inaudible murmurs.

He was still frowning at her. “My word. Never in the history of the school have I seen a new student _open_ the Door and try to leave!” He sighed. “Are you really that impatient?”

“Hold on a second, sir, I haven’t left anywhere—”

“Come now, the school opening ceremony has begun a long time ago. Let us go to the Mirror Chamber.”

Yuu planted her feet and glared up at the stranger. “What do you mean by newly admitted student!? What doors!”

“The room you woke up in that was surrounded by Doors is what I mean.” The man paused from where he was pulling her towards the door with a theatrical sigh but explained patiently with one hand still clamped around Grim’s snout. “All students entering this academy pass through one of the Doors to arrive here—”

“Door?! There was no—”

“Normally, students are not supposed to wake up until a special key is used to unlock those Doors, but…”

“Wait a second, those weren’t coffins?” Yuu blurted out with wide eyes.

“Well, in a manner of speaking. Where one bids farewell their current world and are reborn. That is how the Doors are designed.”

“Bids farewell—are you saying that I’ve died?” she said sharply. “In the first place I didn’t come through the door with a key. That tanuki you’re holding onto blew off the cover with a fireball.”

“So you’re saying that all the fault lies with this familiar.” The man shook Grim once. “If you bring him along, you should take responsibility for him and make sure this sort of thing doesn’t happen.”

“He’s not even—”

“Oh my! It’s not the time to be explaining things you already know.” The man began to pull her along again. “If you don’t hurry, the school opening ceremony is going to end. Follow me.”

School opening ceremony…and the way they were all speaking Japanese…had she somehow come to a different magic school in Japan? Having attended the _washitsu_ -filled Mahoutokoro last year, Yuu felt that there was something very strange about all this. Was she really not dreaming? Had the past (rather hectic) semester gone to her head and given her hallucinations, mixing up the European Hogwarts with the Japanese Mahoutokoro and spitting back out some amalgamation?

Did it really matter if this was a dream?

She’d never cared much about these things.

“Wait a second. At least tell me where I am,” Yuu decided to roll with it. Humans were adaptable creatures, and it didn’t look as if she was in control of the situation. Running away would probably be impossible with this man here and she had too many questions about where they were right now.

Plus, the way he had worded it seemed like she had died already. Yuu had never died before—or never remembered herself dying, so it was a rather new and exciting experience. She didn’t feel dead at all; in fact, she was still rather short of breath from sprinting across whatever place this was. Surely if she no longer lived, the concept of breathing would have been irrelevant to her.

“Oh? I thought you were awake…is your consciousness still not fully established yet?” The man lifted a dark glove to his chin in thought. “It seems that perhaps the effects of the Space-travel Magic has left you a little confused…”

“Space-travel?” Not Apparition? Not Floo?

He wasn’t listening. “Well, this happens once in a while. Very well. Allow me to explain as we walk, since I _am_ a kind person.”

The golden eyes curved into crescents.

Yuu decided that she didn’t really trust this new, smartly dressed, strangely masked man. “And who exactly are you, sir?”

“All in good time, child.” He tugged her into a walk and led her back out of the darkened library into the courtyard garden dyed in dusk. Far more open to the elements than she had originally anticipated, the courtyard was filled with apple trees and benches. The cobbled stone pathway clicked against the man’s dress shoes and made no noise on her socks as they crossed the idyllic landscape leisurely, passing a small well.

Yuu glanced around greedily until he cleared his throat theatrically with an “Ahem!” Then she turned back around and nodded expectantly with sparkling eyes. She hadn’t felt this excited since she had seen Hogwarts for the first time.

Just like how Yuu had been saved by magic, just like how she endlessly thirsted and hungered for knowledge—this was an entirely new, _different_ place to explore. Perhaps she cared about little, but knowledge was one of the few things that had stolen her heart, and magic was another.

She could feel both secrets and magic lying here. Yuu could never resist their siren call.

At her eager perusal, Yuu thought she saw the golden eyes soften just the slightest bit. “This is Night Raven College. It’s where the rarest of talents, the magicians holding the most potential, are chosen from all over the world to gather. In fact, it is the most prestigious development school for magic in the entirety of the Twisted Wonderland,” the man explained with a flourish. She saw that the tips of his gloves were fastened with what looked like metallic claws that shone in the rising moonlight.

“Twisted Wonderland?” she repeated with a frown. What a strange name for a world.

“And! I am the Headmaster of this school, entrusted by the board chairman. My name is Dire Crowley.”

“H-headmaster?” Yuu stammered. She had been nothing short of rude to this man without knowing who he was—and although Yuu wasn’t the most rule-abiding student, she respected the wizarding staff of her school immensely. “Umm, I apologize, Headmaster Crowley, I had no idea.”

Crowley laughed, swinging around a rather listless Grim with his other hand. “That’s quite all right. I _am_ nice.”

“…” She wisely refrained from further comment.

“The only ones who have the privilege of attending this school are those who are chosen by the _Yami no Kagami_ —the Mirror of Darkness as having the makings of an excellent magician.”

Yuu noted carefully how he did not use the term ‘witch’ or ‘wizard’. One point for the ‘it was all just a dream’ theory.

Crowley continued, “The chosen ones are summoned here from all over the world using the Doors. In fact, a black carriage carrying a Door should have arrived at your residence to welcome you.”

Yuu wracked her brain and as if through a fog, remembered checking her appearance in the mirror and hearing the creak of a carriage, beholding the flutter of ravens’ wings. If she concentrated harder, she could barely remember glimpses of a dark forest—of a horse with wild eyes—

Her head pounded. What else had she seen?

“That black carriage is expressly for the purpose of welcoming students chosen by the mirror. It carries the enchanted Doors that are connected to this school. Wouldn’t you agree that a carriage is the only way of transportation on a special day? After all, it has been so since time immemorial.”

Why did everyone involved with magic have such a flair for the dramatic, for the appearances, for unnecessary ceremony? One would think that they were all from the theatre department. Although it wasn’t like Yuu had any room to point fingers. Even fewer wizards and witches joined the fine arts club or choir, both of which Yuu was a part of.

For now, she nodded along, trying to put her disordered memories together with little success. She frowned. “…So you’re saying that I was brought here without my permission.”

“That’s such a crass way of putting it.”

Grim had had enough. “Mmph! Mmmmph!”

Crowley ignored both of them. “Now that that’s settled, let us attend the opening ceremony.”

“Headmaster, is there any way of declining this transfer in?” Yuu jogged to keep up with his longer strides. “I think this was a mistake.”

But Crowley had finished his bout of “niceness” and was content to ignore her again. Yuu, who didn’t care much either way, remained pliable as he pulled her all the way back through the winding hallways of the building before they arrived back at the door she’d run from. His hand felt strangely familiar around hers.

_Do not let go of that hand._

Yuu squeezed a little tighter. Somehow, being in contact with this person took away some of the unfamiliar tenseness in her shoulders.

She wondered when she was going to wake up.

—

Crowley cracked the door to the Mirror Chamber open to a flood of noise. Brightly lit with warm orange fire, the cold and dark atmosphere of the stone hall had changed dramatically; curtains had been pulled back on the ring of windows circling the room, adding the softness of moonlight to take the edge off the dark coffins gleaming as they bobbed up and down mid-air. Filling the chamber to capacity were what seemed to be youths all dressed in the same hooded robes ringed with the same violet on Crowley’s mantle.

The youths—students—seemed to be divided into several large parties, each with a hooded leader standing in front of them. They occupied the spot where prefects and Head Boys and Girls would be gathered in Hogwarts’ Great Hall. All of them were chattering, filling the room with murmurs that echoed off the walls and ceiling. Yuu, who was still being tugged along by Crowley, was immediately overwhelmed by the noise and sheer volume of the crowd. She’d never been used to dealing with large groups of people.

She scanned the gathering quickly. Over a hundred, perhaps over two. The sea of hooded robes looked elegant and almost sinister in their black lined with purple. Gold trim flashed here and there, tracing the long bolts of fabric hanging all the way down to the stone floor.

Her head ached. She had seen this uniform somewhere before.

“Now, I suppose the opening ceremony and the division into dormitories has ended,” The closest leader’s voice passed over the crowd in a carrying command. He stepped forward, the firelight gleaming off of a barely visible patch of scarlet hair peeking from his hood. “Are you listening, newcomers? In the Heartslabyul dorm you have all just been admitted into, I embody the rules. Keep in mind that I will _behead_ those who disobey me. Understood?”

The students standing in front of him went unnaturally silent.

Yuu was doing a lot of gaping today. “Headmaster? Is he allowed to say that?”

Before Crowley could respond, the person next to that unbelievably violent prefect yawned with exaggerated slowness, cutting off the end of the red-haired person’s sentence. “… _Fuaaah_. The tiresome ceremony’s finally over with.” His dark skin glowed in the light as he took a step forward, raising one wickedly clawed—clawed?!—hand in a careless wave. “We’re heading back right now. Savanaclaw dorm, follow me.”

His compatriot, a pale-haired young man wearing thin lenses, smiled over at the group he was standing in front of. “Everyone who has just been divided here, hello,” He said politely, ignoring the other leaders beside him. “On this occasion, I would like to congratulate you on your enrolment in this establishment. So that you can all enjoy your school life here to the fullest, I will do my very best to support you all as the Dormitory Head of Octavinelle.”

A tall, rather androgynous blond brushed their sleek bangs out of their face impatiently. “Anyway, where on earth did that Headmaster go? He hasn’t come back after leaping out of the room halfway through the ceremony…”

The blond was tall and more beautiful than anyone she’d seen in her life. But Yuu was busy staring at the space beside them, where instead of a person there was a floating _tablet_. Or something. Attending Hogwarts necessarily meant a complete divorce from technological advancements because of magical interference, so as the years wore on, she’d started to fall out of touch with the latest developments in technology…but she was pretty sure tablets couldn’t hover yet. Her father was good with computers and smart devices despite being from wizarding ancestry, but she had never seen him in possession of a machine this thin.

And it was _working;_ it was _floating_ and displaying a video chat app with the words SOUND ONLY splashed across the azure screen, completely unaffected by the clearly magical surroundings. Yuu began to wonder if her magic and this magic were even remotely the same.

More points for the ‘it was all a dream’ theory.

A listless voice commented from the speaker. “Abdication of professional duties,” it muttered. Yuu wondered wildly if it was an AI talking. Even Elexa didn’t sound so natural.

On the tablet’s other side was a dark-skinned boy with large bangle earrings and dark kohl smeared around his scarlet eyes, completely at ease with the floating technology by his elbow. He peered forward and shrugged. “Maybe he ate something bad and had to go to the—”

Crowley let go of her and slammed the door the rest of the way open. “That is incorrect!”

Yuu knew she was escaping reality a bit, but that last exchange had sent her almost into giggles. Belatedly, she noticed that Crowley had tossed Grim into the air; she dove forwards to catch him. He felt like a small, warm stuffed animal in her arms.

“Thought I was gonna die,” Grim gasped, finally able to speak.

Yuu had always liked animals. She stroked the top of his head once. “Are you okay?”

“…Humph! I’m fine!”

“Ah. He’s back.” The red-haired person—who had threatened to _behead_ his dorm-mates—blinked. On second glance, what little she could see of his face reminded Yuu strikingly of a china doll. For someone who’d just threatened to murder a bunch of new admittees, he was built thin and shorter than everyone up front (except for the tablet).

“One of the new students was missing so I went to find them, that’s all! Children these days.” Crowley’s cape fluttered as he turned back to her and plucked Grim out of her hands again. “Now. You’re the only one who hasn’t been put into a dorm yet. I’ll keep this tanuki-kun for you, so hurry and face the Mirror of Darkness.”

Grim was taken struggling from her arms. “Mmmm!!”

_Poor guy_ , Yuu thought absently, before Crowley pushed her bodily before the mirror…which revealed a mask that suspiciously reminded her of the Dixney movie involving the most beautiful of them all. Should she try calling “mirror, mirror, on the wall”?

The mirror opened its mouth. “State your name.”

Never mind.

“My name is Yuu.” She answered honestly, forgoing her last name. After all, it wouldn’t be wise to reveal her identity just in case it was used against her. You could never tell with magical artifacts.

Plus, her last name didn’t matter anymore. Since it didn’t legally exist.

“Yuu…” The mirror paused. “The shape of your soul is…”

Yuu waited. Shape of a soul? Was this some sort of weird Sorting?

“…………….” The mirror deliberated.

Back in her first year at Hogwarts, The Sorting Hat had been silent for quite a while before announcing her addition to Ravenclaw. In fact, it had told her it couldn’t really get a read on her. Yuu, therefore, stayed silent and patient in front of the mirror even as the students in the hall all began to whisper.

“……………” The mirror remained silent.

“Um,” Yuu started for the third time that day.

“…I cannot see it.” The mirror said at last.

The chamber fell pin-drop silent. Crowley gasped, “What?”

“I cannot detect a single wavelength of magical power from this one…” The mirror said emotionlessly. “Both the colour and the shape…are non-existent.”

“But that’s impossible!”

_Magical power_ , it had said, Yuu thought to herself—not _magic_.

“Therefore.” The mirror paused dramatically. “This one is not fit to be put in any dormitory!”

Yuu’s mind spun furiously while the residual silence from his statement hushed the crowd of students in shock. The mirror couldn’t read her magic. But she _knew_ she was a witch—which implied that Crowley said about her bidding farewell to her world meant that _this magic_ was not _her magic_. But all magic was fundamentally the same everywhere, from Africa to Russia to the US, she had learnt this in Runes—

Conclusion: she was no longer in a world she knew.

One more point for the ‘it was all just a dream’ theory.

The hall finally erupted into whispering and muttering. All eyes were on her back. Yuu thought ruefully that this must have been what Albus and James Potter had felt as the sons of a saviour. Unfortunately, she had never been on the end of positive attention like that, however misplaced.

Crowley took a step forward. “There is no way that the black carriage has welcomed a human who cannot use magic! In the hundred years of student selections, there has not been one mistake in the process!”

_That’s because I can use magic. Just not your magic_ , Yuu thought to herself, remaining quiet. She was more interested in his ‘hundred year’ declaration. This school was a lot younger than Hogwarts if it was only a hundred years old.

“Just why…” Crowley put his chin in one gloved hand again.

Grim took the opportunity to struggle free. “ _Puha_! Then give that kid’s seat to me!”

And he leapt from Crowley’s slack fingers.

The headmaster was shaken from his thoughts. “Ah! Stop right there, tanuki!”

Grim ignored him, diving mid-air to land lightly on Yuu’s head. “Unlike this human over here, the great _Grim_ can use magic! So instead of that kid, take me into this school. I’ll even show you my magic right now!”

The red-haired boy who had made the beheading statement threw out a hand sharply. “Everyone get down!”

Grim gave an unimpressive cat-like roar—but before Yuu could react, he had set the chamber alight with a tumultuous rumble of blue fire and leapt from her head to land on the stone floor.

“Whoa! Ow, ow, ow! My butt’s on fire!” the dark-skinned, white-haired boy wearing the long bangle earrings leapt out of the way, slapping at his behind.

Crowley clutched his head theatrically. “At this rate, the entire school will be drowned in a sea of flames. Someone! Please catch that tanuki!”

Yuu watched Grim evade a few grasping hands and was reminded of the time when she’d taken care of baby dragons over the summer of her third year. If you didn’t count the fluffy, cat-like structure, he resembled the Chinese Fireball quite a bit. Were dragons feline or canine, anyway? Either way he was cute, and those blue eyes were very pretty.

“Why don’t you hunt him down? He looks just like one of your snacks.” The beautiful androgynous person was smirking unpleasantly over at the tall, dark-skinned young man beside him.

He yawned and waved a clawed hand dismissively. “Why do I have to? Too much trouble.”

“Well then, how about I take on the thankless task of bullying the small animal?” The polite young man wearing glasses adjusted them with a finger, his smile widening ominously.

“Just as expected of Azul-shi,” mumbled the floating tablet, “building up the favourability gauge already.”

“Catch the tanuki! Are you _listening_ to me?” Crowley shouted over the students scattering out of Grim’s way.

“Can someone put out this fire on my butt at least!?” the boy with the bangle earrings hollered.

Yuu cast her eyes over the chaos exploding in the Mirror Chamber and mumbled, “I thought he wasn’t a tanuki.”

—

As the few students standing in front debated on who was up to the task of catching Grim, the boy with the long bangle earrings ran comically back and forth, sparks of fire flying from his robes. Yuu felt a little sorry for him. Now, in the chaos, was as good of a time as ever to test her magic.

No one was watching her. Yuu decided against using her wand, since she had been studying wandless magic recently, and sucked in a breath. It was a good thing that her favourite spellwork subject was in Charms.

Yuu directed her attention towards the student who was running around with his robes alight with blue fire and silently and wandlessly cast an Extinguishing Charm. She let out a breath of relief when the blue fire fizzled out to smoke. At least she still had her magic, never mind being called magic-less just now. Hopefully this didn’t activate the Trace. Weak Charms like these weren’t powerful enough to catch the attention of the Ministry, so the risk was probably worth it.

As the (scary) redhead and the (ominous) glasses went after Grim, both still smiling wickedly, Yuu headed over to the student she’d helped, who was looking behind him confusedly. “Are you all right?”

“Huh? Oh! Yeah, I’m fine!” He turned back to her with a wide grin, the white teeth bright against his caramel skin. “Guessed someone helped me out or somethin’. Ah ha ha! Wonder who it was!”

“I’m sure they’re just glad you’re fine.” Yuu smiled up at him as he tipped his hood back and scratched his short white hair. She’d never seen someone with hair this white despite being so young; it stood out all the brighter against his dark skin. “Can I ask your name?”

“Huh? Me? I’m Kalim al-Asim! Nice to meet’cha. You’re that new kid who has no magic, right?”

“I’m Yuu,” she introduced herself, wondering briefly why someone who looked like he was from a middle eastern country was speaking Japanese like it was his native language. “Seems like it. I actually have no idea how I got here.”

“Really! That’s gotta suck!” Kalim’s eyes crinkled when he smiled, and he seemed so utterly free of suspicion or malice that she grinned back at him. “But guess you have to go back home now.”

Yuu nodded. “After they catch Grim over there.”

“Is that what they call the tanuki?” Kalim looked comically confused.

“Apparently he’s not a tanuki,” Yuu smothered a laugh.

“Huh? Then what is he?”

Yuu just shrugged, but both of them started at a large crash and looked back over at Grim, who was now backed up against the remnants of a chandelier. Briefly, she wondered how much money he’d just racked up in repairs.

“Can’t you tell that we were letting you swim free?” the glasses was saying, holding what looked like a glowing fountain pen in his hand. He shrugged in a graceful movement that seemed almost boneless, sighing, “What a pitiful creature.”

“ _Funaa_ —!!” Grim cried rebelliously. “You wanna be set aflame?!”

“Give it up while you’re ahead,” the redhead commanded, his hood falling back and revealing narrowed grey eyes the colour of slate. “If not—”

“No way! I’m going to enter this school if it—”

The redhead clicked his tongue, vein throbbing against his temple. “Azul, get back!”

As if he had been expecting the command, the one called Azul lowered the glowing pen (?) in his hand and neatly moved aside just as the shorter one stepped forward and roared, lifting his own pen, “ _Off with Your Head!_ ”

“What is he, an executioner?” muttered Yuu, but her eyes went wide when a flash of light preceded two halves of a metal collar snapping around Grim’s neck with the click of a lock.

“— _Fugya!_ What the heck is this!?” Grim emitted in a choked voice, tiny feet lifting off the ground with the movement and remaining airborne.

“The Queen of Hearts’ twenty-third law,” red brows drawn together in a glare, the boy stepped forward with his pen (?) still glowing, voice carrying over the quiet hall. “States: do not bring cats into a place of ceremony. Therefore, cat, your presence is an unacceptable violation. I’ll have you removed right away!”

“I’m not a cat either!” Grim managed, waving his stubby limbs around angrily. “I’ll burn this stupid collar up in an inst—! Guh! Wh-why isn’t my fire coming out!?”

“Hmph! Until I take it off, you won’t be able to use magic at all. Just like…a house cat.”

“ _I’m not a pet!_ ”

“Don’t worry, there’s no way we’d want a pet like you.” He sniffed down his nose at the floating creature and shrugged. “Well, by the time we throw you out of the grounds, I’ll have taken it off.”

His partner in Grim-chasing, who had been named Azul, clapped a few times. “No matter how many times I see Riddle-san’s Unique Magic, it’s still a sight to behold. To seal _any_ kind of magic is rather convenient, isn’t it? I’d absolutely want to obtain…oh my, I meant to say I would like to refrain from being on the receiving end.”

“Is he even trying to hide his suspiciousness?” Yuu mumbled.

“Azul’s always saying stuff like that,” Kalim whispered back from beside her. He’d been watching the goings-on without reacting with more than a grin. “By the way, Yuu, why d’you look so surprised? Never seen Riddle’s magic?”

“In case you haven’t figured out, Kalim-san, I come from a place where your magic doesn’t even _exist_.” Yuu gave him a stare.

A second after she’d said the words, she regretted them. The only thing these people knew about her was that she didn’t possess magic—not that she came from some place where there was none. It had been a slip of the tongue.

Perhaps she was more panicked than she had expected.

“Right, right!” Kalim laughed without surprise, not noticing Yuu stiffening. “Then this has gotta be your first time seeing magic, huh? Ha ha! No wonder your mouth was open! Man, you’re gonna be really shocked once I show you my magic carpet! What d’you say, wanna go for a ride?”

“A magic _carpet_?” Yuu swung around to face him, but was distracted when Crowley swung her around gently with both hands on her shoulders.

“Please do something about that familiar!” he scolded her. “You should have trained it—”

“Like I said when we first met, headmaster, he isn’t my anything,” Yuu explained again. “I actually met him around an hour ago. Just like you, sir.”

“—What?” Crowley paused.

“I told you earlier too,” Yuu hinted, raising a brow.

“…Is that so? _Ahem!_ ” Crowley coughed.

“Maybe his ears are going bad too,” Kalim said in a rather carrying voice. “Is it your age catching up with you, Headmaster?”

“I’m still young!” protested the headmaster even as Yuu privately agreed with him. “Anyway! Let’s throw him out from the grounds. I’m a nice person so I won’t make stew with you, tanuki!”

“Let me go—!” Grim struggled under what had been called ‘Riddle’s Unique Magic’ as a hooded student took hold of him and began to pull. “Let me go! I’m going to become—! I’m going to become a Grand Magician for sure…!”

The door shut behind him.

Yuu looked blankly at the space where Grim had been. “Seems kind of harsh, doesn’t it?”

“That so?” Kalim crossed his arms behind his head, seemingly unbothered. “But he isn’t supposed to be here, right? Doesn’t even have a human form. In other places we’d have beheaded him pretty much instantly.”

Again with the beheading. What was this, medieval England?

“Without even hearing his motivation?” Yuu looked over at him with a slight frown.

Kalim regarded her with his beautiful red eyes for a few moments. Then he showed his white teeth in another grin and planted a hand into her hair. “You’re a nice kid, huh, Yuu?”

“Not really.” She denied, letting him mess up her hair. “I’m just…too curious for my own good.”

“Well!” Crowley clapped his hands, bringing quiet back to the hall. “There were a couple of unexpected bumps, but with this, the school’s opening ceremony draws its curtains. Each Head of Dormitory is to take their new housemates back to their dorm…Hmm? But wait, I don’t see hide nor hair of Diasomnia’s Mister Draconia…”

The clawed student rolled his eyes under his hood. “That guy’s always missing,” he spat.

“Huh?” Kalim blinked several times. “Did you all forget to tell him it was today?”

“Then why didn’t _you_ tell him?” the androgynous person put one hand on their hip, sending a derisive glance in his direction.

Kalim crossed his arms, taking the suggestion seriously. “Well. Sure, but I don’t really know the guy…”

Once again the hall filled with murmurs of, ‘Wait, so Malleus Draconia seriously attends this school?!’ and ‘ _That_ Malleus Draconia!’ and ‘Holy shit, I go to the same school as someone like that…should I just quit school?’ so that Yuu blinked and nearly missed the quiet voice arising from her other side.

“Oh…I see. I slipped in just to check, but Malleus really skipped the ceremony, did he not?”

Yuu turned and nearly jumped. The measured baritone had come from a hooded student even smaller than she was, and when he turned to peer around the room, she saw the pupils of his large magenta eyes slit like a dragon’s.

“It seems that the ceremony’s invitation did not reach him… _again_ ,” the small student with the deep voice crossed his arms.

Azul spread his arms, a comically sad expression erasing his business smile. “I deeply apologize! It wasn’t as if I wanted to exclude him…”

“However, it’s true that it’s almost impossible to speak to him,” Riddle said flatly.

“Well, be that as it may.” The small student shrugged, his low voice clashing horribly with his childlike features. “I will take charge of the Diasomnia dorm’s children. …Hopefully, that boy isn’t sulking because of this.”

Crowley glanced subtly in her direction as people started to exit the chamber. Yuu got the hint and stayed put.

Kalim frowned at her. “What are you gonna do? Wanna come over to my dorm for now?”

“Huh? Oh no…don’t worry about it, Kalim-san. I’m gonna talk with the headmaster and hopefully go back where I came from.” Yuu smiled reassuringly at him. “Thanks for talking to me. You’re in charge of some of these people, right? Don’t worry about me, I’m sure you’re busy.”

“…Well, if you say so.” Kalim frowned briefly before he erased it with a smile. “It was good meeting you, Yuu! Good luck!”

Yuu waved at him.

“—Well then, Yuu-san.” Crowley waited until the last student had exited the hall before he turned to her again. “It is with my deepest regrets that I must inform you that you also need to exit the premises.”

Yuu nodded. It didn’t come as much of a surprise to her. “Right. Doesn’t make sense for a non-magical person to attend a magical school.”

“I am glad to see I speak to someone reasonable for the first time in recent memory,” Crowley nodded. “Don’t worry. I’m sure that the Mirror of Darkness will send you back to your hometown. Now, please stand in front of the Door.”

Yuu obeyed, jogging over and facing the open coffin from which she had fallen out of. “Does this mean I’m not dead?”

“ _Dead_?!” Crowley seemed exaggeratedly surprised. “Of course not, dear child. If you strongly focus on the place you came from, you should travel back right away.”

Yuu shut her eyes briefly, opened them again, and decided not to focus on her Ravenclaw dorm but on her room in muggle England. Who knew if the magical interference would let her travel into the Hogwarts grounds?

“O Mirror of Darkness! Return this one to their rightful place!” Crowley spread his hands wide, the raven-feathered cape floating around him majestically. Yuu squeezed her eyes shut again.

The face in the centre mirror was silent. Yuu opened one eye and glanced at it, but there was no sign of it speaking.

Crowley cleared his throat. “Ahem. One more time. O Mirror! Return—”

“Nowhere.”

“Huh?” Crowley and Yuu emitted simultaneously.

“The rightful place for this one does not exist,” the mirror repeated. “Not in this entire world.”

“What!?” Crowley lifted both metal-tipped gloves in exasperation. “That’s impossible! Aah…today has been stuffed full of impossible things…This has been the first time such a thing has occurred in my entire tenure as Headmaster! Just what to do…”

Yuu shifted around, once again not surprised. In the first place she didn’t know if she was in ‘reality’ or dreaming or hallucinating or dead.

It wasn’t like it mattered either way.

“Yuu-san! Which country are you from?” Crowley turned to her rather desperately.

“Born or raised?” Yuu asked. “I was born in County Durham, England, though I spent a few summers in Japan. Oh, but my school is in…er, Northern Scotland. I think.”

“……I hope you realize I have no idea what you just said,” Crowley returned blankly. “I know the names of every country that my students hail from, but I’ve never heard of any of those.”

“You might have books on any of them in that huge library of yours,” Yuu suggested, “with the floating books.”

“Yes…I suppose that is the logical next step, isn’t it?” Crowley sighed. “All right, follow me, please.”

Yuu decided not to tell him that she was betting against them finding anything useful.

—

“Nothing!”

Yuu, whose legs dangled off the floor as she perched on a library chair, dodged down just in time to miss Crowley’s hands flying into the air.

The headmaster, who sat beside her, slammed a huge book closed. “Not only do your country’s names not exist on the world map—no historical record shows any of the names. None!”

“What do I do,” Yuu sounded singularly unhurried, eyes scanning over a book titled _The History of Twisted Wonderland_.

Crowley rounded on her. “Yuu-san. You _really_ do come from that…”

“England.”

“…Yes, that place, right? You’re not lying, are you?” he leaned in so that the beak of the raven mask almost bumped into her nose. Up close, Yuu watched in fascination as an unearthly light glowed from his golden eyes to illuminate the eyeholes of the mask.

“Not lying,” she confirmed. She was beginning to doubt this Headmaster was human. Several of the eye-colours, the hair-colours of the students she’d seen today were far too bright to be natural, but none of them had the eerie power to his golden eyes.

He had put her on edge earlier—yet now, for some reason, they made her feel calmer when she looked.

“Now we must consider the possibility of your arrival from a second planet…ah, or from a separate universe,” muttered Crowley, glaring her down.

The magicians of this world were a lot more scientifically advanced if they were speaking about planets and the theory of parallel universes. Yuu, who was actually thinking along the same lines, blinked and said, “Is that even possible?”

“Being summoned from another world?” Crowley leaned back thoughtfully. “Why, nothing is impossible, child, though it would be overwhelmingly difficult to assemble all of the requirements for such a feat.”

One point against the ‘it was all just a dream’ theory. But it was far better for her to be hallucinating than for her to actually have broken the barrier between worlds.

She was not ready to deal with the consequences of ripping holes in space like that.

Crowley was still muttering. “Let’s see…do you have anything you brought with you that can prove your identity? For example, a magical practicing license, or a shoe?”

Yuu swung around and wiggled her socked toes at him.

“…It seems that isn’t the case.” Crowley sighed.

She decided against showing him her wand. Just in case the Trace was effective in different worlds. She’d heard the story from James about his father going through that hellish trial in 1995.

“This is rather troubling. I did say I couldn’t leave you here, but throwing a young child—”

“—I’m not a young child,” Yuu felt the need to put in, “I’m fifteen.”

“Fif _teen_! You’re not even at the standard admitting age! I can’t throw a fifteen-year-old child out into the world without a single Madol or contacting your parents. My teacher’s heart would be stricken with worry! Because I’m a nice person.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure they wouldn’t really care.” Yuu put in helpfully. “Though my mother might screech a little.”

He ignored her. “Hmm. Hmmmmm.”

“Uh, Headmaster? Really, it’s all right—”

“I’ve got it!” Crowley put his fist in one hand. “There is a building within school grounds that used to be used as a dorm. If we tidy it up a little, I’m sure it can be used as a place to rest your head. If it’s that building, I wouldn’t mind lending it to you for a while. In return, you will search for a way back home during your stay!”

Yuu blinked at him several times.

“Ah…what a kind person I am!” Crowley pressed a glove to his forehead. “The very epitome of a teacher.”

“Headmaster Crowley,” she started.

“Hmm? Anything else you have to add? Ah! Did you find your wallet in your pocket, or—”

“I thought you were a really suspicious person at the beginning,” Yuu told him frankly.

“Why, how rude! I’ll have you know this cape is—”

“But suspicious or not…”

“You’re supposed to apologize there.”

“I wasn’t expecting you to lend me room and board.” Yuu smiled up at Crowley. “Thank you, Headmaster. I will definitely search for a way back as soon as I can, but I will keep your, ah, kindness in mind.”

Curiously, Crowley put his hands down, the pomp and fluttering disappearing from his movements. He looked at her with not a trace of emotion visible on his face or in those golden eyes.

“…Headmaster?” Yuu tilted her head in confusion.

“…Ah, I apologise.” The moment was gone. Crowley’s eyes curved in a smile. “It must have been a mistake that you came here, is what I was thinking. After all, Night Raven College is…”

“Is…?” Yuu prompted when he stopped speaking.

“Well, never you mind. It shouldn’t matter if you’re leaving soon. Anyway! Time is of the essence. Shall we go?”

—

Crowley seemed to view her as a small child—which was rather unacceptable to Yuu, who had been on her own from the day she was born and liked to be seen as independent and mature. Hence, she would never admit to him how comforting it was in this unfamiliar world that when Crowley walked, he made it a point to hold onto her wrist or her hand to lead her. Like a teacher—or a parent. Not that she knew what parents should be like.

Either way, Crowley was for some incomprehensible reason, likable. Maybe it was because she hadn’t fully accepted that she wasn’t dreaming yet, but Yuu _wanted_ to trust Crowley despite knowing how much she shouldn’t rely on this stranger.

_Do not let go._

Yuu kept a firm grip on his glove, fingers warming the cold metal tips that extended like false claws. Her whirring mind slowed down a great deal when she was in contact with him, enough for her to categorize her surroundings curiously.

The grounds were completely dark by this point, the sky gloomier than its dusky colour when they had entered the library. Clouds slowly passed over the moon and hid the surroundings from view. Yuu’s steps slowed in caution, but Crowley didn’t even seem to notice the cover of night and tugged her forwards without hesitation. As they passed the front building, Yuu looked back to see a huge, silhouetted castle fade into the darkness. Perhaps it was as large as Hogwarts.

“Wow,” she muttered.

“It is a sight, isn’t it?” Crowley agreed.

Across the grounds was a large expanse of open grass which he called the ‘Magift Stadium’ and the outline of several other buildings that Yuu presumed were the other dormitories. Crowley then told her they were buildings for physical education and storage, and she decided she should stop assuming things.

Yuu walked in comfortable silence beside him for nearly twenty minutes, the cobbled stone lit on both sides by orange torches, until they reached…

Crowley waved at the wrecked mansion with a metal-tipped glove. “What do you think? Quite a delightful appearance, no?”

A gust of wind blew against the boarded-up windows, which creaked ominously. Yuu’s eye twitched. “A little too delightful, maybe,” she said weakly.

“Isn’t it?” Crowley’s smile widened. “Well, come inside. Welcome to the Ramshackle Dorm!”

“Couldn’t they find a better name?” Yuu muttered, but he still had a hand on her wrist, so she followed him inside obediently.

The interior of the so-called Ramshackle Dorm did not betray her expectations. Although there was a curious resemblance to her muggle England’s room in the wallpaper and décor, Yuu could see that the entire lounge they had stepped in was covered in a sparkling layer of dust and decorated liberally with spiderwebs. Paintings on the wall, weathered into illegibility with age, hung at odd angles, and the remnants of broken furniture were tipped over across the carpet and creaky wooden floor.

“Well! At least with this you won’t be caught in the rain.” Crowley let go of her wrist. “I have some things I must search up, but I’ll leave you to it for now. Please do _not_! And I repeat do _not!_ Wander around the school unattended! A normal human like you should not go anywhere without my say so. Understood?”

Yuu was staring at the stairs, which were missing several steps.

“Yuu-san! Your answer?”

“Yessir. I won’t go anywhere,” Yuu replied, standing at attention.

“Very well. I will check up on you later! Good evening!”

The door shut behind him with an ominous thump.

Yuu sighed and looked around. “I could mistake this for a winter wonderland, the dust is so sparkly.”

It was time to see how good she really was with wandless Charm work.

—

It turned out that Yuu was still as proficient at Charms as she had been before the summer holidays began. Being her favourite subject involving practical magic, Yuu tended to fiddle around with the spells outside of class, which lent ease to her handling and feel of the spells she found in the library. She wasn’t as diligent as Hermione Granger, her hero and the soon-to-be Minister for Magic, but all the same her fascination made what seemed like an insurmountable task seem almost fun.

First the floor needed to be scrubbed. A slightly overly strong shout of _Aguamenti_ took care of that rather quickly and had the added effect of pushing all of the broken furniture, sopping, into a corner of the room. Yuu jumped a little when a few spiders scuttled out of the woodwork and blasted them away reflexively with water. She still could not get over her slight illogical fear of bugs after that Blast-Ended Skrewt experiment in her third year.

Next was the dust along the walls and paintings, which an uncontrolled gust of wind was effective in cleansing. Yuu pushed all the windows open manually, ripped the boards off the open ones and clumsily directed all of the dust outside. She still wasn’t good with fine-tuning these spells wandlessly.

Lastly was the light. _Incendio_ put fires into the fireplace and into torch brackets, although some were stubborn. After the lounge was visible, Yuu went around straightening the paintings and dusting off the couch with a flew blasts of air.

She hadn’t quite mastered a nonverbal _Reparo_ yet but managed to affix the legs of the broken chairs and table, setting them wobblingly in the middle of the carpet she dragged straight and pushing the couch before the fireplace together with its coffee table, only for one chair to go straight through the old wood. Great. At least it was good practice for _her Repairing Charm_. Yuu decided she didn’t really care if the high level of magical activity alerted her to the Ministry anymore. This place was _too fricking messy. In fact, she was surprised it hadn’t completely collapsed on her head already._

By the time the rain started, Yuu had finished her first-floor cleaning. Wiping a hand across her forehead, she began to spell the windows back shut against the needles of water—

“—Why is it raining so hard!?”

Until she was met with a face full of Grim.

Yuu yelped and fell back on her butt. Grim, who’d flown in through the window haphazardly, bounced off her face and landed in her lap with an ungainly squeak. He was quick to scramble up and stand on her legs, forked tail waving about playfully, teasing her, “You look like you’re a bat that just got water-bombed!”

What a strange comparison. But she _had_ been surprised. “Grim,” Yuu greeted, “were you all right after that happened to you?”

Grim blinked. “Were you…worried about me?”

“Well…you could put it that way.” Yuu pushed herself up, setting him on her shoulder, and went to close the floor-to-ceiling window behind him. “I thought you got thrown out?”

“Please. As if it was difficult for the great _Grim_ to sneak back in here.” Grim puffed out his chest proudly. “If they think that just flinging me out of the school would make me give up, they really are stupid!”

Yuu carried him over to the newly cleaned couch and sat him down. “Why do you want to come into the school that much? The reason you wanted my clothing was to pretend you were me, right?”

Grim widened his blue eyes at her and grinned, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth. “It’s simple, human!”

Yuu sat down beside him and crossed her legs, feeling the warmth of the fire set in. she subtly _Repaired_ a crack in the wall across from them. “Okay, let’s hear it, Grim.”

“I was born with the talent,” Grim explained, “a once-in-how-many-centuries talent to become a Grand Magician! I’ve waited for the black carriage to come get me for oh, you don’t even know how long.”

Yuu thought Grim’s eyes were beautiful when they sparkled with excitement like that. She nodded along.

“But…but…” the eyes filled with tears. Yuu wondered whether cats could cry as Grim sniffed and puffed out his cheeks. “That stupid Mirror of Darkness doesn’t know talent when it sees it! So I came all the way _to_ the school instead.”

Yuu remembered Fred II telling her about the Squibs in his family and winced. She couldn’t imagine what it felt like to yearn so much for magic, for a letter, for acceptance, only for it to…just never come. Not her, who had been born with nothing.

Grim yelped as a gust of wind rattled the dorm and sent a few drops of rain through the creaky old roof. “ _Fugya!_ The roof is leaking! My charm point’s going to disappear!”

“Charm point?” Yuu asked.

“My ears, you dumb human!” Grim pointed to the fire burning in both ears.

“They are rather cute.” She nodded, subtly directing a _Reparo_ at the ceiling. Thanks to today’s cleaning episode she was feeling like she’d gotten rather good at it. “I think the leaking stopped.”

“…? You’re right. Whatever then.” Grim squinted at the no-longer-leaking ceiling. “But you should fix it, you know, with magic. _Oh wait!_ You’re a human that can’t even use magic! Ha ha! You’re pretty useless, aren’t you?”

Yuu tried not to laugh, since she had done just that. “Yeah, yeah. Then since you’re such a great magician, Grim, why don’t you fix it?”

“You kidding me? No way!” Grim snuggled into the couch and gave her a dismissive glance. “I’m just a passing Monster waiting for the rain to stop. There’s no way I’d work for free! You gotta at least give me canned tuna.”

“Well then, come with me and we’ll go see if there are any more holes in the ceiling. Or buckets. I’ll carry them, but I’m going to use your charm point as my flashlight.” Yuu picked him up. “Also, you’re warm.”

“Humph! You really are a useless human.”

Grim snuggled in her arms comfortably. Yuu grinned down at his flaming ears and thought he was just like one of Norberta’s children.

—

The hallway was similarly broken—abandoned—dilapidated. In a way Grim wouldn’t notice, Yuu strode down the creaky corridor casting small repairing spells at the walls and floor and ceiling while he dozed in her arms like a real cat. Therefore, when three comically proportioned ghostlike figures dove out from the corner, she was unprepared and let out an ungainly squeak.

“ _Hee, hee, hee_!” the thin one giggled, adjusting his top hat.

“Ah ha ha!” laughed the round one.

“Ho ho ho!” the big one echoed. “It’s the first guest we’ve had in a while!”

“Time for us to show off!” the thin one added.

“Th-they’re not very silver,” Yuu commented. These Dixney-like creatures looked nothing like the Bloody Baron. Even Peeves was scarier.

Still—non-human creatures in a different world meant trouble. It was best not to put her guard down.

“Why is it so loud?” Grim cracked open an eye and then leapt out of her arms with a shriek. “Gyaaaah! Gh-gh-gh-ghosts!”

“The guys who lived here before got soooo scared of us, they all ran away!” the round one did a flip, showing a wisp of white that took the place of his legs.

“We’ve been looking for a new ghost companion for a loooong time,” the big one leaned forward with a wide grin.

“How about it, kids?” the thin one asked, flying in a circle.

“Why don’t you _jooooin_ us?”

“H-help!” Grim gasped, diving back into her arms when one got too close.

Yuu realized she couldn’t really show off her magic and took a step back. “You’re…not trying to kill us, are you?” she said, still rather shaken by the sudden threat.

She had squeezed Grim a little subconsciously. His trembling stopped. “Th-the…the great magician Grim isn’t scared of some little ghosts!” he mustered out.

“Grim!” Yuu managed just as he waved his hands and sent a stream of blue fire at the big one. He missed spectacularly.

“Where are you looking?” giggled the thin one.

“Over here, over here! Ha ha ha!” the round one waved.

“Come on!” Grim growled. His next shot went even wider and set a painting ablaze.

Yuu frowned. “Grim, are you closing your eyes when you attack?” No wonder his aim was terrible.

“Shut up! Don’t tell me what to do! Let’s get outta here!”

McGonagall had once said _it’s easier to calm down once you find someone even more frightened than you._ Yuu experienced this in action—with Grim trying so desperately not to shake as he spat fireballs everywhere, a strange sort of calm had settled around her.

“Hmm.” Yuu adjusted him in her arms and thought. “Grim, if you manage to stave them off, then how about I try to find a way for you to speak with the Headmaster? About the, you know, enrolling in school thing.”

“—!?” Grim stopped struggling. “Well…I _am_ a genius.”

“A genius couldn’t be confounded by one or two little ghosts,” Yuu encouraged.

“There are three of us!” the thin one protested, doing flips around them.

“We’re not little. And we won’t get got by some little flames!” the round one cackled.

“Grr…that’s cowardly!” Grim cried out, ears pressing down low on his head.

“Umm. Then I’ll find you one of your tuna cans after this too?” Yuu tried.

“Grrrrrr…” Grim visibly debated with himself, and then popped out of her arms. “Hey, you.”

“My name _is_ Yuu.”

“Stop making bad jokes! Fine, Yuu! Tell me where those guys come out, got it?” Grim puffed up. “And I’m not going to forget what you promised earlier!”

“Leave it to me,” Yuu said with a grin. “Being in the fine arts club means I have to have good observation.”

—

“Huh,” Yuu emitted a few minutes later. “I didn’t know your fire could even work on those guys.”

“You really are a magicless human.” Grim sniffed, blowing a stream of smoke through his nose. “Well, I suppose your directions were _a little_ useful to the great Grim.”

They both stared at the quickly retreating ghosts, all of whom were rubbing at what looked like small burns dark against their incorporeal forms. How on earth did the flames hurt them? Yuu decided it wasn’t worth pursuing right now.

“Well, congrats, Grim, you’ve secured us a victory,” Yuu said, relaxing her grip on the long piece of pale yew hidden in her sleeve.

“We really won…?” Grim squinted.

Yuu bent down to where he was standing and pet his head. “Thanks. Honestly, you’re a lot more powerful than I thought.”

“…I-it was s-sca…” Grim became a little teary eyed. “I mean it wasn’t scary at all!”

“Aww, come here,” Yuu said helplessly. She really was a sucker for animals—dragon, hippogriff, and now this unidentified fireball-spitting creature in front of her.

“Mmmphh!” Grim emitted as she hugged him. “I said I wasn’t scared! The great Grim can’t be scared of some ghosts!”

“There, there. Thanks for protecting me.” Yuu said, petting him behind his flaming ears until his throat started rumbling in a purr. “Good boy, good boy.”

“Hello-o!” Crowley’s voice sounded down the hallway. “I brought you dinner because I’m so nice!”

Yuu jogged down to the lit lounge as he opened the door. “Headmaster!”

“Oh, there you are. I see you really cleaned up the place, no?” Crowley smiled over at her. “Come eat some—that’s the Monster that was causing trouble at the opening ceremony! What is he doing here!?”

“Hmph!” Grim turned around without wriggling out of her arms, still purring a little. “I’m the one who drove away all those Ghosts. You should thank me!”

“Hm? What on earth does he mean?” Crowley set a tray on her recently fixed table, looking flabbergasted.

As Yuu gathered them around the table and explained what happened, sharing bits of food with Grim, Crowley threw back his cloak and sat gracefully, listening carefully. “Come to think of it, the reason students stopped coming to this dorm was the poltergeists that had took up residence here.”

“You forgot? And put me in there?” muttered Yuu, feeding Grim bits of tuna. Luckily, there had been fish in the warm meal Crowley had brought over.

“Give me some of that too!” Grim nudged her hand towards the chicken.

“ _That_ was the reason why it became an abandoned dorm…” Crowley put one hand on his chin again.

“Mmm! That’s really good! Hey, one more!”

Yuu swallowed her mouthful of soup. “Um, Headmaster. Don’t worry, we managed to drive them away.”

“I am most surprised that you could team up and take care of them so efficiently,” admitted Crowley. “Those ghosts have been causing trouble for a long time now.”

“Don’t say we teamed up! Yuu just sort of stood and ordered me around!” Grim protested, opening his mouth for her to feed him the next piece of chicken. “And I just did it for the tuna!”

“Hm. Well, after you eat, may I have the both of you drive the ghosts out one more time?” Crowley said suddenly, leaning forwards.

“Huh!?” Grim nearly choked on his chicken.

Yuu, who had finished her soup and was now halfway through the plate of chicken and fish she had shared with Grim, swallowed with difficulty (she was really hungry) and repeated, “Huh? Aren’t they already gone?”

“Oh, no. I will act as the ghost.”

“ _What_!?” both of them chorused.

“I ain’t doing anything if I don’t get more tuna!” Grim added.

“Very well! If you manage to win against me, I will give you a can of tuna,” Crowley acquiesced. He narrowed his golden eyes in good humour. “Since I am a nice person.”

“But I don’t wanna!” whined Grim. “It’s a drag and I have to be ordered around by this kid…”

Crowley wasn’t listening. “Well then, to change my form…” he waved a hand and suddenly a Dixney style ghost wearing his mask floated across from them as Yuu began to shovel down her food.

She swallowed and whispered over to him, “If you really wow him you might get into the school. Plus, canned tuna. Think of the canned tuna.”

“Grr. Oh all right! But this is the last time, you hear? And you better hand the canned tuna over right away, you hear!!”

Grim was so cute. Yuu decided she’d try her best to prevent him from crying again.

—

“I didn’t know he could move that fast,” Yuu remarked, subtly putting out the smouldering paintings with an Extinguishing Charm. It looked like this Charm would be getting a lot of use when Grim was around.

Ghost Crowley appeared by her, not seeming fazed at all. A moment later he had transformed back into his regular humanoid form without so much as an incantation. “Indeed.”

“Hey Yuu! Why you gotta be so hard on me!” Grim growled over at her, panting. “Treat me a little more gently!”

“But then you’d get haunted or something,” Yuu shrugged. “I was just telling you where to spray fire.”

“You’re _way_ too fast!”

“The Headmaster was fast.”

“Yuu-san is quite adept at reading my movements,” Crowley murmured, reaching over to pat her head. “Well done, the both of you.”

Unused to being on the receiving end of positive contact, Yuu squirmed a little embarrassedly. “…Thank you, but I didn’t do much. Good job, Grim!” Yuu crouched down as he leapt over and picked him up, stroking the fuzzy head. “Actually, you moved way faster than I expected.”

“Obviously! Who do you think I am?”

“The Great Grim?” Yuu guessed, scratching him behind the ears.

"Good heavens,” Crowley was staring at the two of them and mumbling. “That there could be a magicless human that could make a Monster listen to them…”

Yuu shifted uncomfortably as he narrowed his eyes at her. “Er, Headmaster?”

“You know, from the whole racket at the opening ceremony, my teacher senses have been tingling whenever I looked at you, Yuu-san.”

“Me? Not Grim?” Yuu blinked in surprise.

“You seem to have a…hmm. Yuu-san. Do you like animals?”

“How did you know?” Yuu gaped again. Her number one favourite class was Care of Magical Creatures—overwhelming even Charms, her best subject, and Runes, the most interesting one—so much so that over the summer before fourth year, she had spent a lot of time with Charlie Weasley managing some of the more dangerous ones in an internship.

“Well you see, I detect a sort of affinity…no, potential for you to become a trainer or a wild animal tamer or something of the sort. So I was thinking…but how can a human this tiny be able to control Monsters or magical creatures at all? Still…” Crowley descended into unintelligible mumbling.

Yuu paused in scratching Grim under the chin, remembering her promise. “Um, Headmaster. Grim really wants to attend this school. How about letting him stay in this dorm with me?”

Grim snapped out of his purring. “Yuu?! You’re vouching for me?”

“What?!” Crowley seemed astonished. “This Monster?”

Grim looked up at her with those big blue eyes.

“Please!” Yuu added, and lowered her head for good measure.

Crowley frowned. “…It’s true that leaving you alone here with ghosts hurts my conscience. Very well!”

“Really!?” Grim brightened up.

“However! Leaving him here is one thing, but he was not chosen by the Mirror. In addition, he is a Monster! I cannot admit him as a student.” Crowley glanced at her. “You, too, Yuu-san.”

“That rhymed,” Yuu said.

“Stop that!” Crowley cleared his throat. “Yuu-san, you are staying here without doing anything for the time being. In other words, a loafer.”

“Um, I’m planning on finding a way back.”

“Aw man, I got excited for nothing,” Grim sighed.

“Listen until I finish!” Crowley stared at them until they both shut up. “That your body and soul were dragged over to this school is part of the responsibility of the school that houses the Mirror, Yuu-san. Which means it is my responsibility to see to your safety. So don’t worry about food and board.”

“Headmaster,” Yuu said, a little touched. Although McGonagall would probably do the same, she wasn’t used to treatment like this. Usually the professors had eyes only for James Potter the second and purebloods like Fred Weasley the second and Scorpius Malfoy (for a different reason entirely). Yet Crowley had been nothing but a gentleman the whole time to her, a castaway without a penny to her name.

“For now, I will permit you to stay here without a fee. But clothing, food, and personal necessities must come out of your own pocket.”

“Yessir.”

“Though it is obvious that you have nothing on you worth selling, hmm…I have it!” Crowley smiled rather suspiciously. “ _Fu fu fu_. Let’s do this.”

Yuu waited patiently. This Headmaster sure liked to put on airs.

“I’m thinking of making you take up the odd jobs and chores around the school.” Crowley’s smile widened. “Your cleaning abilities seem to be quite strong, seeing as you’ve made this lounge liveable and even fixed much of the leakage in the hallway. How about pairing you both up as the Miscellaneous Chores crew for the time being?”

Yuu blinked. “So you’re giving me an excuse to be inside the school grounds by doing chores, so I can look for clues back home,” she deduced. “Can I use the library too?”

“I am glad I have a quick learner on my hands! Of course you can. After all, I am a nice person. However! You must finish your tasks first.”

“Huuuuh? I don’t wanna!” Grim started to struggle in her arms. “I wanna wear that cool school uniform and be a student here!”

“Very well, then you shall be thrown out right away,” Crowley replied without missing a beat.

“ _Funa_!? Okay fine! I’ll do it! Good enough for you!?”

“Don’t worry, Grim,” Yuu pet his little head again. “I happen to like cleaning.” Or practicing wandless charm-work.

“If only my students were half as good of a child as you…” Crowley muttered, and then shook his head. “That’s impossible for Night Raven College, I suppose. Well then, tomorrow marks the beginning of your odd jobs here! Understood?”

“Yessir,” Yuu nodded, wondering just what kind of people attended this school. “Um, Headmaster Crowley.”

“Yes, Yuu-san?”

The both of them ignored Grim’s muttered complaints. Yuu smiled up at the masked headmaster. It was good social manners to try and be pleasant to someone who was doing so much for her—Yuu, who was not used to anyone being ‘kind’. “Thanks for letting me stay here. I really have no idea what to do or where to go, but I really appreciate it. I’ll do my best as your chores boy.”

Once again, she saw the overblown emotion fade eerily fast from Crowley’s tall frame. He seemed to stare through her with those yellow eyes.

“Yuu-san,” he said after a moment. “I advise you to be careful within Night Raven College. I am a nice person, but the same cannot be said for the rest of the school.”

“Oh…okay?” Yuu frowned, confused.

“You seem like a very intelligent child, but trusting others so easily is dangerous,” Crowley crossed his arms; for once, he was not smiling. “The students…the people attending this Night Raven College are chosen for more than just their talent. They are all hungry—starving and yearning, my child. Be sure you are not devoured.”

—

The first night Yuu slept in Twisted Wonderland, she dreamed wildly. Visions of magic, light, heat, blood filled her vision. Colours burst unchecked, almost painful in their intensity.

She saw a great multitude of scenes tumbling through her mind. A queen wielding a spectre. A lion’s desperate roar as his claws dragged against rock. An undersea castle and a cave in which a dark cauldron bubbled and smoked. Yuu frantically tried to keep her bearings as she fell through the seawater cave…before her vision was swept up into the night sky facing a desert kingdom.

_“Magic mirror, on the wall,” someone was chanting,_ but the mirror was splintered, a scarlet apple rolling across the floor into scarlet liquid that kept growing in volume…

The slow beep of a machine. The green lines reading an electrocardiogram monitor flashed slowly across a dark screen. Blue fire the same colour as the flames sprouting from Grim’s ears—mechanical fire burning slowly, beating together with a mechanical heart. Don’t leave me, it all cried out without a word. Don’t leave me.

Black liquid dripped from her vision. Yuu’s hair stood on end.

Someone was calling her insistently, and she looked up and saw a great dragon with black scales towering over her. Yuu loved dragons, but this one was not the same kind she knew, and its green, fluorescent eyes burned into her vision unbearably strongly.

_“I’ll save you.”_ It promised.

_So don’t let go._

Yuu reached forwards in the night and her arms curled around a snoring Grim.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
>  **Edited |** December 31st, 2020 for grammar, better definitions, and minor details.
> 
> —
> 
>  **Definitions |**
> 
> _-chan (ちゃん) suffix_ | one of the honorific suffixes often used in Japanese. This one is usually feminine, though it’s also used for young people and others the speaker finds ‘endearing’. Yuu’s mother calls Yuu with this. (Floyd Leech also refers to those younger than him with this suffix.)
> 
>  _The Great Grim (グリム様)_ | the way Grim refers to himself. It’s pretty outrageously prideful to attach the -sama honorific (which means 'esteemed' or 'great') suffix to oneself as usually it’s only for those ‘higher in rank than oneself’ (目上の人) but Grim is really arrogant and also uses the first-person pronoun 俺様 (ore-sama, the great me) sometimes.
> 
>  _washitsu (和室)_ | a Japanese-style room, often laid out with straw mats (畳, tatami) and surrounded by paper doors (障子, shouji). Mahoutokoro has these.
> 
>  _tanuki (狸)_ | [the Japanese raccoon dog](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_raccoon_dog), featured extensively in Japanese folklore and modern video games. Not a raccoon.
> 
>  _-kun (君) suffix_ | a slightly masculine? suffix used by ‘someone of higher status’ to refer to ‘someone of lower status’ and contrary to popular belief, isn’t exclusively masculine. (Actually it’s indicative of respect when using it towards women!) Instructors tend to use it for those they are teaching. (By the way, Holmes uses it to refer to Watson sometimes in the Japanese translation of Sherlock Holmes.) Also used towards males one is familiar with if they are in similar age/status or below. Crowley calls his students with this suffix.
> 
>  _-shi (氏) suffix_ | a genderless (maybe slightly masculine?) suffix usually used only in writing and is pretty formal, used to refer to an unfamiliar person. Also used in newspapers/formal writing when giving interviews. However, in recent years it’s also become a staple of otaku language/nerdy speech (オタク用語) since similar groups of people tend to have a very unique way of speaking characterized by (1) talking very fast and nervously (2) using a weirdly formal kind of language (3) lots of phrases that are created and maintained in their community. For an English equivalent check urbandictionary.com. Anyway, characters like Blackbeard (FGO) and Idia use this kind of language enthusiastically and he refers to Azul, his board game club member, with the suffix not necessarily out of respect (or lack thereof) but because it’s the way he talks.
> 
>  _-san (さん) suffix_ | the quintessential genderless Japanese honorific suffix. There are a variety of situations and times when it’s appropriate to use -san, but all of them demonstrate some kind of respect towards the one they are referring to. Azul refers to everyone with this suffix, and Crowley calls Yuu with this in this chapter.
> 
> —
> 
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> —


	2. Welcome to the Villain’s World.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuu meets some new students and gets embroiled into a pinch on the first day of classes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
> Your wonderful comments and "kudos" made me so happy I danced around the room to Piece of My World (Episode 5-21) with my cat. Thank you! I probably got too excited in my replies...and now you've made me want more comments. Any comments. Even the word "beauté!" is fine (heavy breathing). Tell me about your favourite character or Unique Magic or Disney movie!
> 
> I had no idea there was a non-Japanese fanbase of Twisted Wonderland so your response has been overwhelming to me. (As you can probably tell, I'm kinda new here.) But I've got plans for this story, so I hope you will stick with me for the foreseeable future!
> 
> Without further ado.
> 
> —

—

Yuu had been rather aghast at the state of the biggest of the upstairs rooms in the Ramshackle Dorm. Consequently, she spent the time until midnight (according to Grim) clanking around upstairs. There was a harrying moment when she went straight through the floor and nearly broke her ankle—a timely self-aimed _Levicorpus_ saved her from an ungainly fall. Grim slept through most of it like a log, which allowed her to discreetly fix and charm the floorboards and wonder just how loud his snoring could get.

Several times she was tempted to use her wand together with verbal spell-casting, but she—along with the rest of the cowed Ravenclaw class—had been yelled at by a visiting Alastor Moody (who was very cranky in his old age) that relying on her wand was the height of idiocy between shouts of _Constant vigilance!_ So even if she had decided she didn’t care about the Trace anymore, Yuu was reluctant to whip it out. Either way, she had scrubbed the room within an inch of its life, as well as the hallways of the three-storey dorm and the stairways to prevent any more floorboards breaking under her weight. It was probably too far gone to withstand anyone heavier than her, though. Yuu wasn’t perfect with wandless work yet.

That cleaning had left her exhausted. So after a quick shower in the cobwebbed washroom—which was, for some reason, a Japanese-style washroom with the shower and bath areas separate—Yuu magically washed the bedsheets and mattress, nearly sent the bed through the floor, fixed the floorboards under the bed, showered, changed into a magically washed blue-striped English nightgown, and collapsed into bed beside a snoring Grim.

And dreamed.

_Don’t let go._

It felt like she had only closed her eyes for five seconds when Grim was shaking her awake. Yuu pressed her head into the pillow. “…Five more minutes.”

“The ghosts are back!” Grim hissed.

“Ha ha ha! The cat said the same thing as the new odd jobs kid a few seconds ago! _Five more minutes_ , he was like. What a pair!”

“Hee hee hee! Weren’t you two supposed to be up for your first day of odd jobs?” the thin ghost floated into her line of vision.

Yuu yawned and pushed herself upright. “Morning, guys.”

“Morning! You’re going to be late!” sang the big ghost.

“Okay. I’ll go wash up,” Yuu stumbled out of bed sleepily.

“…Aren’t you afraid of them?” mumbled Grim from behind her.

After cleaning her face and teeth and changing back to her clothes from yesterday—a button-up shirt and sweater paired with old jeans, complete with fluffy socks—she came out to the ghosts floating around aimlessly in her room and Grim glaring at them.

“Looks like the two of you are living here starting today!” The round ghost laughed.

“Sure am looking forward to _tricking_ you!” the thin one giggled.

“Hello,” Yuu waved at them.

“Just wait, we’re gonna chase you out one day!” Grim shook a tiny, fisted paw.

The window she’d fixed sprung open from the outside and Crowley peered in like Tuxedo Mxsk, his mantle fluttering around his shoulders. “Good morning, the two of you! Did you sleep well?”

“We nearly fell through the floor when Yuu sat on the bed!” complained Grim, not even remarking on the headmaster that had just come through the window. “And do something about those ghosts! Just how ramshackle _is_ this dorm?”

“Good morning Headmaster,” greeted Yuu with a smile, “I slept really well. I think.”

Perhaps it was because Grim was so warm, but she couldn’t remember any dreams she may have had. Yuu felt unusually well-rested.

“…Even after being blown into a different world, you sure are bold…impudent…fearless…shameless? I’m glad!” Crowley nodded. “I am here to talk to you about today’s jobs. In short, I’m entrusting you with cleaning the main street leading from the library to the castle’s front door! However! Please keep an eye on Grim to make sure he doesn’t cause any more trouble.”

“Yessir. I’ll do my best,” Yuu nodded, yawning.

“Very good! You may take your meals at the school cafeteria. I’ve let the workers there know about your situation. However! Do work hard. I’ll be expecting results!”

“Tch. As if I’ll clean _anything_ ,” Grim snorted. They both watched Crowley disappear back through the window as fast as he came.

Yuu leaned down to whisper to him. “You don’t have to do much. I’ll take care of it.”

“I wanted to go to magic class and go BANG! And BOOM! And cast cool spells all day!” Grim leapt onto her shoulders, still complaining.

“Then after we reach the library, we can find some cool spells for you to try?” suggested Yuu.

“How about you do that, and I’ll wait,” Grim bargained. “Reading makes me sleepy.”

“Okay, then I’ll read to you,” Yuu agreed. “Let’s go explore this new schoolyard, shall we?”

—

**CHAPTER TWO | Welcome to the Villain’s World.**

—

“Whoa…” Grim gaped at the Main Street spread out in front of their eyes, “This looks amazing!”

“So this is Main Street.” Yuu shielded her eyes against the cool morning sun and sucked in a clean breath of air. “There are a lot of Dixney statues around. Isn’t that Jxfar from _Aladdxn_?”

“What? Who?” Grim peered in the direction she was pointed. “I have no idea what statues these are but they’re pretty creepy-looking.”

“Why only seven, though?” wondered Yuu. “There are way more than seven Dixney movies. I think. Also, only the bad guys are immortalised here.”

“Hey Yuu! Look at this big woman over here!” Grim directed Yuu over to a statue of a tall, round statue of a portly woman who looked ready to slam her staff down on their heads. “She looks _mad_.”

“Huh. You’re right. Who is that?” Yuu squinted up at it. She’d only watched a few of the newer Dixney movies (only the ones she saw during class and could borrow from the library) and couldn’t remember seeing anyone like this.

“You don’t know the Queen of Hearts?” an unfamiliar tenor piped up.

“Queen of Hearts?” repeated Grim. “What, is she famous or something?”

“You bet. A long time ago, she used to live in a labyrinth of roses where she ruled.”

The voice had come from her right side. Yuu turned and looked up to meet an unkempt head of hair lit orange by the sun; the stranger who had spoken to them was looking up at the statue with an easy smile on his face. When he blinked, the crimson tattoo of a heart painted on his left eyelid became visible in its entirety.

“Morning,” she greeted with an incline of her head, glancing at the red jewel peeking out from his school blazer pocket. “You know about this statue?”

“Sure I do. The Queen valued law above all else—and she was real strict about it, too. She didn’t permit a single deviation from her Card Soldiers or even the colour of the roses in her garden,” the stranger explained with a grin.

Yuu thought he reminded her a little of Fred II. Not just the pale skin and hair—though its bright brownish-orange was only a few shades darker than her friend’s—but there was something in those narrowed eyes that reminded her of Fred’s smile right before he blew up the Potions classroom in a spectacular burst of fireworks.

The stranger continued. “Even though the country was full of insane residents, everyone obeyed her without question. You wanna know why?”

Grim stammered, “Wh-why?”

He turned to them with a wicked grin. “Because any violation of the law meant immediately beheading the offender, that’s why!”

“Th-that’s scary!”

Yuu frowned thoughtfully. “A classic villainous figure, then?”

“Isn’t it cool? I like it,” the stranger narrowed his amber eyes in a grin. “I mean, no one would follow some queen that was just nice all the time.”

“Well, that’s true.” Yuu nodded. Still, going overboard meant that there would be more people planning to overthrow this queen. She wondered what movie she came from—and how the Queen met her end.

“Yeah, leaders need to be strong more than anything,” Grim agreed. He adjusted himself on her shoulder and frowned at the stranger. “Wait, who are you, anyway?”

“My name is Ace!” he put one hand out; it was encased in a black leather glove. “Starting from today, I’m a sparkly firstie. Nice to meet’cha!”

“I’m the great Grim,” Grim puffed out his chest proudly. “I’m the genius who’s going to be a Grand Magician! And this boring kid I’m sitting on is Yuu. My henchman!”

“Hey, hey,” Yuu chuckled, shaking it. “when did I agree to be your henchman, Grim? Nice to meet you, Ace.”

“Yuu?” Ace shook her hand firmly, orange brows lifting in surprise. “That’s a foreign name if I ever heard one. Holy shit, you’re _tiny_!”

“Don’t think I’m _that_ small,” Yuu quipped. “It’s the Asian genes, I suppose.”

“Asian?” Ace repeated confusedly.

“Hey, hey, Ace! What about that lion with the scar on his eye? Is he a famous guy too?” Grim hopped on her shoulder impatiently.

Yuu was familiar with this particular movie and listened as Ace obliged Grim and explained the feats of the King of the Pride Lands and his eventual fall. Then they went over to Ursulx’s statue, Jxfar’s statue, Snow Whxte’s Queen, Hxdes, and Mxleficent. Ace excitedly listed the way these villains worked hard, aimed for the top, and took for themselves power, glory, and riches.

“It seems kind of rare for someone to speak highly of these guys,” Yuu commented, reading the plaque of Hxdes’ statue and remembering how much she liked Greek Mythology when she was small.

“Hmm? That so?” Ace glanced over at her. “I think they’re cool. Don’t you?”

“Yeah. You’re right.” Yuu nodded. It wasn’t like she was a big fan, but the ubiquity of Disney’s presence around the world leaked into even the small place she lived in. in the end, Yuu herself had managed to watch a few of these movies through the library or somewhere online. Their simplicity seemed almost boring, but Yuu who liked art appreciated the detail that went into the animation and music much more.

Dixney stories were never complete—or remotely interesting—without the villains. She had always been a little let down at the care that went into the villains’ stories only to be extinguished by a Happy Ending. Well, all of her interest in movies had gone down the drain on her eleventh birthday anyway, so it had been a while and her memory was rusty.

“Right? They’re awesome. Unlike some little tanuki.” Ace shot Grim a wicked smirk.

“?!” Grim jerked back as the new student’s benign grin twisted.

Ace tilted his head back and laughed. “I can’t take it anymore! Ah ha ha ha ha!” He took a step closer, malice distorting his expression. “Hey, you guys were the idiots who made a mess of the opening ceremony yesterday, weren’t you.”

Yuu resisted taking a step back. She lifted a brow at him. “I was wondering why you didn’t react when you saw us.”

“Oh, so you weren’t completely brainless.” Ace looked down at her disdainfully. “You’re the useless kid who wasn’t even summoned by the Mirror and can’t use magic, and that tanuki is the Monster who just _had_ to invite himself. Man! It took all I had to stop myself from just _bursting_ out laughing during the ceremony!”

“Wha—” Grim spluttered.

“Laughing?” wondered Yuu. Seemed like Ace was a good sport. She’d expected anger, not humour.

“This guy’s rude!” Grim managed angrily, standing up pin-straight on her shoulder.

“And in the end, you couldn’t even get in the school and wound up being some slacker chores boys? Can you get lamer than that?” Ace leaned in even further.

This guy was probably a Ravenclaw or Slytherin, thought Yuu absently, despite the Weasley-inspired hair. “I mean we didn’t get kicked out, at least.”

“And you don’t even know the Great Seven! Just how ignorant are you?” Ace poked her in the forehead none too gently. “I suggest that before you come to NRC you get re-educated. From Kindergarten!”

Yuu rubbed at her forehead and looked up at him dolefully.

Ace lost his composure and sunk halfway to the ground snickering. Yuu caught Grim around the neck as he prepared to leap at the first year. “Whoa, whoa. Calm down, Grim.”

“This little brat…” Grim growled.

“Can’t breathe,” Ace struggled to his feet. “I just came to tease you guys a bit but you’re even more than I imagined. Ah~! I haven’t laughed this hard for a while!”

“Well, that’s one positive thing that’s come out of this whole experience,” Yuu shot back dryly.

“Ha ha ha…my stomach hurts. Well then! Unlike _some_ people I actually have classes to attend, so do your best with the cleaning, you two!” Ace waved his un-gloved hand carelessly as he turned.

“As if I’d let you just walk away,” Grim spat out, and a roar of fire drowned out his words. Yuu sighed and tilted her head to move out of the way of the fire.

She should try harder to stop him, but Yuu wasn’t a saint. If Ace was prepared to dish it out, he should be prepared to take it back.

Ace was fast enough to dodge out of the way of the blue flames even without looking. “—Whoa! Hey, that’s dangerous,” he remarked, the humour slipping from his reddish-brown eyes. “What didja do that for?”

“Hmph, you were the one who made fun of the great Grim!”

“I’d have to say fire looks good on you,” Yuu quipped. Her years at Hogwarts had given her ample time to sharpen her tongue. “You know, with that hair that looks like it exploded a few seconds ago.”

Grim snickered. “Hey, Yuu! I should explode it even more! Explosion Head!”

“Explosion…” Ace turned around to fully face them, gaze darkening. “You sure have some guts to face me, huh? How ‘bout I shave you into a toy poodle, tanuki?”

Yuu watched as he pulled out the jewel in his breast pocket—no, it wasn’t a jewel, it was attached to what looked like a ballpoint pen. Ace pointed it at Grim just as the latter released another fireball, and a fierce breeze whipped the fire out of existence.

“So that’s their wand,” Yuu confirmed as Grim leapt from her shoulder.

“Whoa, what’s going on?” she heard someone from behind pause as the wind swept the area.

“Wait, a fight? On the first day?”

“Awesome! Go for it!”

“There are all sorts of ways to use magic, aren’t there?” Yuu commented, ignoring the small crowd gathering behind them. It seemed that ‘fun’-loving students were the same no matter what world she lived in.

“As if that tiny little spark could hit me,” Ace egged Grim on, an unholy light of glee brightening his eyes.

“Ha! Just watch!” Grim puffed up his chest and emitted an impressive stream of flame.

“You moron, I could just change the trajectory of that with magic!” Ace shot back, lifting the jewelled pen.

“Wait a second,” Yuu tried, “Ace, that’s in the direction of the stat—”

“Take this!”

“—ues.” She sighed. It was too late now, and using magic here would be far too eye-catching. A wave of Ace’s pen and the fire flew straight into the Queen of Hearts’ face.

Too late did Ace catch sight of her grimace; he turned and nearly dropped his pen. “Oh shit! The statue! It’s scorched! Aaaah!”

Grim backed up. “It…it’s your fault for changing direction of my fire! You should’ve just stood there and got burned!”

“Would _anyone_ just let themselves get set on fire ‘cause you asked?!” Ace shot back.

“HEY! What’s going on?!” Crowley descended from the sky like a great bird of prey, his ‘whip of love’ at the ready.

Yuu put both hands over her face as Grim and Ace both screamed like little girls and dove out of the way of the first swing. “I don’t know these people.”

—

Crowley dragged the listless Ace and Grim over, having sufficiently whipped the cheekiness out of them. “Do you two _want_ to be expelled?”

“Anything but that!” Ace spluttered, far less intimidating now than he had looked a few minutes ago.

“And you, Yuu-san. You’re not being very effective at supervising Grim.” Crowley turned his glare on her.

“Sorry,” Yuu apologized contritely. She had been having a little fun watching. “I did sort of try to stop them.”

Crowley sighed. “My word.” He reached forward absently and patted her on the shoulder a few times before turning his glare on Ace. “You. Name and year.”

“Ace Trappola,” the despondent Ace mumbled. “First year.”

“Well then, Mister Trappola. Mister Grim. And Yuu-san. As punishment, the three of you are sentenced to one hundred panes of glass-wiping!”

“Wha—!” Grim pointed at Ace. “It’s this guy’s fault, he just came over and started badmouthing us!”

“Me too!?” Ace had evidently not been expecting to get into trouble.

“Obviously!” Crowley crossed his arms. “After school, gather in the dining hall, the three of you. Understood?”

Yuu caught sight of Ace’s sour expression and Grim’s speechless shock and thought that no, none of them understood at all.

For a first day of school, it had been eventful enough to outweigh a month of her studies at Hogwarts. Somehow, the bright blue sky overlooking them seemed warmer than the grey overlooking the castle she was used to living in.

She pulled up her sleeves and got to work, making sure to hide her smile.

—

“A hundred windows…a _hundred_ windows…” Grim buried his head in her neck. “I’ve already cleaned enough for a day! I’m going to bed!!”

“I was the one who did the cleaning,” Yuu responded dryly. Thanks to her enchantment of the tools she’d been given, the main street was sparkling clean and the Queen’s statue was back to normal. Mostly. It was still a little charred.

“I’m still _tired_.”

“You just lay around.” She poked him.

“I need lots of sleep!” Grim protested.

“All right, all right.”

“And that Ace! He’s so slow! I can’t believe he’s making us wait!”

“He might not show up,” suggested Yuu, looking around the cafeteria in which they were sitting.

“…” Grim gasped. “We could’ve done that!”

“Don’t be stupid,” she chided, “Headmaster Crowley can tell if we didn’t show up. But Ace seemed pretty reluctant.”

“That bastard…”

“Language.”

“We’re going to look for him!” Grim puffed out his chest angrily. “No way am I doing _his_ share of the work!”

“Sure, sounds good.” Yuu pushed herself off the cafeteria bench. “Any clues?”

“How about the first-years’ classroom?” Grim suggested.

“But classes are over already…” she’d heard the bell as she was putting the finishing touches on scrubbing the stonework. “Well, better than nothing. Let’s go.”

Wandering through the large halls of Night Raven College was nothing short of an adventure for Yuu and Grim, both of whom stared open-mouthed at the huge ceilings and the gaggles of uniformed students passing them by. Eventually they approached the first-year history classroom, as directed by a helpful student, although Yuu was too busy staring at the two dark brown animal ears popping out of the side of his head to thank him.

Grim pushed the door open. “ _Oraaa!_ Where’s Ace!? I won’t forgive you for hiding like a coward!”

“Like I said, classes are over,” Yuu peeked in behind him. “I don’t think he’s the kind of guy who would stay afterwards.”

“No one’s here anymore!?”

“I’m right here!” exclaimed an oil painting to Grim’s right.

Grim screamed. “A painting talked!”

Yuu stifled a snicker. Hogwarts might just knock this little creature unconscious. “Hello, sir,” she asked the bespectacled old man politely. “Have you seen a boy by the name of Ace Trappola recently?”

“He’s got a heart on his face and his hair looks like he just got struck by lightning!” Grim got over his surprise rather fast.

“Ah, that child. Of _course_ I know him, he’s a new student, isn’t he? Yes, yes.” The man adjusted his top hat and stroked at his beard. “He left just a while ago. Most likely back to his dormitory.”

“That bastard seriously ditched us!” snarled Grim. “Hey mister, do you know which way he left?”

“The door to the Dorms is located in the back of the East school building, outside the castle,” the painting said dully. “Well then, off with you.”

“Thank you, sir!” Yuu called back. Grim was already out the door.

—

True to the painting’s words, one of the many school buildings littering the grounds opened to a wide display of Mirrors just as large as the one that had declared her unfit for the school. Like the second-floor hallway, it was purplish and buzzed with magical power. Even if Yuu couldn’t feel it, she could see the way the mirrors rippled with light.

“Whoa…this isn’t like the Mirror Chamber at all…” Yuu, adjusting Grim on her shoulder, stared around at the circular hallway in wonder. The seven huge mirrors in alcoves surrounded them with a glow, each carved with a crest and several unique patterns atop a few steps.

“As if anyone’d wipe a hundred of those windows,” she heard a familiar voice mutter. “I’m going straight back…”

“STOP RIGHT THERE!” Grim leapt from her shoulder.

“Geh! They found me!” Ace jerked back in surprise from where he had been walking, turning to face them defensively.

“You bastard, I won’t let you off all by yourself!” Grim landed right in front of Ace.

“As if there’d be an idiot who waits ‘cause you told them to wait!” Ace grinned a wicked grin and ran full tilt past him, nearly knocking the little creature over.

“Why do you have to go all by yourself?! I wanna slack off too!” Grim chased after.

Yuu sighed and jogged after Grim. She couldn’t just leave him, although she wasn’t sure how to feel about being his ‘supervisor’, according to Crowley.

The three of them sprinted down the hall, her lagging behind—Yuu caught sight of a tall dark-haired student striding down the hall too slowly—

“Out of the way!” Ace shouted, not bothering to slow down.

“Huh?! O-okay!?” The stranger turned in surprise, green eyes going wide in shock.

Yuu, who hated running, panted, “Please catch that person!”

“Um, wait a sec! What’s the magical way to catch someone again!?” The dark-haired student started to panic. “Stopping his feet—no—tying him up with rope!? Um, was there another…”

“Doesn’t matter, anything’s fine, just hit him with all ya got!” Grim shouted from ahead of her. “Hurry!”

“Anything’s fine!? Anything, anything,” the student stood in front of Ace hesitantly, but then he lowered his centre of gravity and narrowed his eyes, whipping out his own jewelled pen. “Doesn’t matter what, so just come out right now! Uh… _Something heavy_!!”

Yuu yelped and jerked Grim backwards as a huge cauldron popped into existence mid-air, crashing down on Ace in a spectacular cloud of dust.

“ _Gueh_!” Ace cried out from under the cauldron. “What the hell—a pot!?”

Grim burst into laughter. “ _Nya ha ha ha_! Yuu! Look! That guy! I can’t breathe! Who’s the lame one now! _Ha ha ha_!”

The taller student hovered over the squashed Ace. “I didn’t expect such a big cauldron to come out…did I overdo it a bit?”

Ace shoved the cauldron aside and rubbed at his sore head in a bad temper, completely ignoring the other student as he glared in Grim’s direction. “Ouch. Why don’t you wipe some windows for me and let me go? It’s just a hundred of ‘em.”

“As if!” Grim shouted.

“Well…I don’t mind, but the Headmaster will probably mind. Also, Grim will be annoying the whole time if you’re the only one who gets to slack off.” Yuu crouched down and stuck out a hand. “Um, are you all right, Ace?”

“Ow ow ow. I think I might have broken something,” Ace said theatrically, letting her pull him up and then leaning most of his weight on her. Yuu nearly fell over. “What’cha gonna do? Huh? How are you gonna make up for it? Huh?”

“Whoa, whoa! I’m not equipped to handle this much weight!” Yuu protested, her voice muffled by the blazer. “Are you trying to tip both of us over?”

“You’re just too tiny!” Ace planted a hand in her hair, a grin in his voice, and swung it back and forth. “There’s no way you’re sixteen. Twelve, more like.”

“Ace!” complained Yuu, wavering dangerously backwards.

Suddenly the pressure around her disappeared. The stranger who had sent the huge cauldron on Ace’s head tugged him back by his loose collar. “Did you just say a _hundred_ windows!?” He spluttered. “What’d you guys do?!”

Ace crossed his arms, shaking him loose. He shrugged. “I was just playing a _teensy_ bit with that little furball over there and the Queen’s statue got a bit crispy before classes this morning. That’s all!”

The other student took a step back in shock, the spade mark painted across his right eyelid stretching comically with the movement. “You _damaged_ one of the Great Seven’s statues!? That’s obvious grounds for punishment!”

“Finally, a normal human being who has common sense,” Yuu nodded approvingly, grateful that he’d saved her from falling.

The dark-haired student lifted both hands in a shrug. “You had the privilege of entering a school like this…and what do you do on the first day?” he sighed derisively.

“He just couldn’t help it,” Yuu piped up.

“Shut it, the two of you. Actually, who _are_ you?” Ace squinted over at the student.

“My name is Deuce. Deuce Spade.” The newly named Deuce—she wondered what his parents were thinking—crossed his arms and narrowed those dark green-blue eyes at Ace. “How about you at least remember the face of your classmate? Umm…”

“Says the guy who hasn’t remembered mine,” Ace shot back.

“A-anyway!” Deuce coughed. “If it’s the order of the Headmaster, then you should be diligent in engaging with the window-cleaning.”

“Fine, fine, I got it already,” Ace sighed, appearing to have given up. “Let’s do it fast, then.”

“Hm?” Yuu glanced around. “Have you guys seen Grim? He’s been suspiciously quiet for a little while.”

“Ah—! The furball disappeared!” Ace gasped.

“Heh heh! I’ll leave the rest to you kids. Adios!” Grim’s voice echoed down the hallway.

“That bastard…he used me as a scapegoat!” Ace growled. “Hey! Uh…Juice!”

“Wha—it’s not _juice!_ It’s Deuce! Deu!” Deuce spluttered.

Yuu burst into giggles.

“Shut it, Juice! Anyway, whatever your name is, you’re part of the problem. So help me catch the furball!”

“Why do I have to!?”

“This little runt here can’t even use magic so he’s no help. Let’s go!” Ace clamped a hand around her wrist and pulled her from the hall at a jog. Yuu, who was too busy trying not to bend over snickering, caught sight of Deuce’s confused expression before he, too, followed after.

—

Half an hour of fruitless running later, Deuce—who had complained about his involvement even as he came after them willingly—and Ace were breathing lightly. Yuu, on the other hand, was lightheaded from lack of oxygen. She also couldn’t stop laughing.

Ace had abandoned her after the first time she burst into giggles, but Deuce was kind enough (or he wanted a fellow victim to commiserate with) to drag her after them as they ran around shooting spells at Grim. Yuu couldn’t help it, though. The two of them had allowed Grim to escape no less than three times because they were so out of sync with each other. Also, Ace kept calling Deuce ‘Juice’, probably mostly because it sent her into hysterics every time.

The three of them arrived at the cafeteria, panting.

“As if you guys can catch me!” Grim leapt onto a lunch table.

“This little furball…” Ace growled.

“I—ha ha—can’t—ha ha—breathe,” Yuu gasped, punching Deuce in the arm lightly with each syllable.

“You really are weak,” Deuce remarked a little worriedly. “That felt like a tickle. Uh, what was your name again?”

“Oi! Henchman! Stop laughing!” Grim scurried up a chandelier and looked down at her exasperatedly.

“S-sorry,” Yuu managed.

“Hey! You can’t go up there!” Deuce shouted at Grim. “…We haven’t learned flying magic yet…! Somehow we gotta trap him…some way…I got it!”

“Gotta think of an idea…wait, wait wait. Why are you pointing your Magical Pen at me?” Ace backed up a couple steps as Deuce rounded on him.

“I can just fling you at him!” Deuce said with a confident smile.

Yuu lost it again, hunching over as she gasped with laughter. She took back what she said about Deuce being a normal person with common sense. At this rate, though, she was going to hyperventilate…

“Stop laughing! It’s not funny—oi, oi, oi! Don’t make me float!” Ace started to panic as his feet left the ground. “Are you seriously going to throw me!? Seriously, stop stop stop!”

“Hold on tight!” Deuce wasn’t listening; the dangerous light in his eyes brightened as he aimed his pen at Grim. “Aim…and fire!”

“You gotta be _kidding meeeee!_ ” Ace shouted as he flew through the air.

Grim shrieked. “ _Funaaa!_ ”

The two of them crashed spectacularly together and sent the chandelier swinging in a cloud of dust. Deuce looked so triumphant that Yuu nearly collapsed into hysterics…Until it fell from the ceiling with an audible snap.

_CRASH!_

Yuu choked on the dust blown over to them by the enormous collapse and tried to get her breath back. “You’re all…” she gasped with tears of mirth in her eyes. “You’re all insane…!”

“I can’t believe he really did it!” coughed Ace in the wreckage.

Grim had tipped over semi-conscious. Yuu winced and started to wade through the dust to get to him.

“Ah, damn,” Deuce muttered in surprise, “I wasn’t really thinking of what would happen after we caught him.”

“Are you,” Ace sucked in a lungful, “ _an idiot!?!?!?!_ ”

Yuu fished Grim from the wreckage. “Yeah, if Headmaster Crowley finds out, we’re pretty screwed.”

“Finds out about what?” Two gloved hands, tipped with metal, settled on her shoulder.

Yuu felt the colour drain from her face.

Ace, who was facing her, smiled politely, the light in his eyes extinguishing so that he looked like he was headed for the gallows. “Ah. Headmaster.”

Crowley’s shout echoed through the entire cafeteria. “You. Are. All. EXPELLED!”

Ace, Deuce and Grim all shouted, “ _Eeeeeeh!?_ ”

“Um, wait a second,” Yuu began, but Deuce cut her off.

“Wait a moment! Headmaster! Please spare me from that at least! I have something I must do at this school!” Deuce said earnestly.

“Then regret that you were stupid enough to participate in this debacle,” Crowley said, unmoved. He crossed his arms and stood in front of them with both legs spread in an intimidating pose.

“If you forgive me, I’ll pay for the damages! I’ll do anything!” Deuce looked desperate.

Yuu felt sorry that she and Ace had gotten him involved in this fiasco. He had only been a stranger who was in the wrong place at the wrong time…

“This isn’t just any chandelier!” Crowley told him. “Using magic as a fuel, it is enchanted to never let its candles go out! It was created by the legendary enchantment master and has been a treasure since the dawn of this school…let’s see…if you think about its age and worth, a hundred million Madols isn’t even enough!”

“A hundred million…!?” Deuce gasped, staggering backwards.

“But, y-ya know, Headmaster, you could just wave your hand and, like, magic it back to normal…” Ace suggested weakly.

Yuu made sure they weren’t paying attention to her before she started to focus on the chandelier. _Wingardium leviosa_!

The chandelier trembled, but Crowley shook his head. “Magic does not solve everything. In addition, the heart and power source of this magic tool, the ‘magic stone’, has shattered. There are no two magic stones that are alike…there is no way that this chandelier will glow ever again.”

“No way…” Ace went silent.

“Dammit…” Deuce gritted his teeth, looking despondent. “What the hell am I doing…what is Mom going to say…”

“Headmaster.” Yuu stopped trying to _Reparo_ the so-called magical stone (it wasn’t working) and stepped forward.

“Ah. Yuu-kun.” Crowley turned to her.

“Um, I have to be honest and say that this was actually my fault,” she said calmly, adjusting her grip on the unconscious creature in her arms.

“—Oi!?” Ace emitted.

Yuu ignored him. “Not only did I fail to keep a good watch on Grim, but I was also unable to fulfil my duties of wiping the windows. Therefore, the responsibility for this incident should fall on my shoulders.”

“I see…” Crowley said slowly.

“I was the one who involved two unrelated students in this situation,” Yuu explained in a reasonable tone, “so doesn’t it make sense that the punishment falls on me, not them?”

“Hey, stop it,” Deuce said in a hard voice, “You weren’t the one who—”

“I see.” Crowley repeated, staring at her with his luminous golden eyes. “……There is one way.”

Ace and Deuce let out twin exclamations.

“The magic stone powering this chandelier was obtained from the Mines located within Mount Dwarf.” Crowley put a hand on his chin. “If a stone with the same properties is obtained, it may be possible to fix the stone.”

“I’ll go get the magic stone!” Deuce said right away. “Please allow me to go!”

“However, I cannot be sure that the mines still have magic stones remaining…” Crowley sighed. “It’s been a while since the Mines were closed, so there is a high possibility the stones have all been mined out.”

“If you remove the expulsion command then I’ll do anything!” Deuce shouted in determination.

“…Very well,” Crowley lowered his hand. “I will wait for one night only. If, by tomorrow morning, you have not brought back a magic stone, then you are all expelled.”

“Yes sir! Thank you, sir!” Deuce shouted.

“Guess it can’t be helped,” Ace sighed. “Well then, let’s go get the magic stone and bring it back, sharp like.”

“You can access Mount Dwarf from the Gate in the Mirror Chamber. That way, you will arrive quite quickly.” Crowley explained to her. “And Yuu-san. Please do not try to take the responsibility for things that you could not have done in the future. Farewell!”

“Yes sir!” Deuce said.

“…Yessir,” Yuu echoed, and followed the two of them out from the cafeteria in a jog.

—

“Stop squishing me,” strained out Grim from her neck.

“Oi, it’s okay now,” Deuce’s voice sounded from somewhere above her. “You can let go now, we’re here.”

Yuu cracked open one eye. Deuce was glancing around them with his brow furrowed, allowing her to hang onto his arm.

Ace swung his hand which she’d latched onto. “You’re such a scaredy-cat,” he snickered. “What, never travelled via mirror before?”

“Absolutely not,” Yuu pried her fingers from his and let go of Deuce with a sigh of relief. “I’m still alive? All limbs in one piece?”

“It’s as if this kid hasn’t even _seen_ magic before.” Ace shook his head theatrically. “Gonna cry? Want me to lend my shoulder?”

“That’s okay.” Yuu glanced around, following Deuce’s example. “But…It’s really dark around here. I might need to hang onto you guys so I don’t get lost.”

“I think this place was called the Silent Woods or something,” Deuce was mumbling. Indeed, all they could see in front of them was the dark cover of trees at dusk. A small hut was nestled out of the way across a stone bridge curving over a river. “You know, the Mines on Mount Dwarf were truly famous for their magic stones a while ago.”

“S-something’s gonna come out,” Grim buried his head in her hair. Yuu wondered why she wasn’t burning from the fires in his ears. Friendly fire? Hopefully it wasn’t something dangerous like slow-acting fire they were researching in the Curse Breaking department.

“Well, let’s go check out that house,” Ace took charge. “At least we can see if anyone’s around.”

The hut was empty and seemed to have been abandoned a while ago. Deuce’s powerful knock nearly took the front door off its hinges. The inside looked like a smaller-scale version of Ramshackle Dorm, Yuu thought as Grim spat out a cobweb.

“Why is everything so small?” Ace squinted at the darkened tables and chairs. “Looks like it’s all for kids. And there are a ton of them! One, two…seven?!”

“It was most likely a large household from when the Mines were in use on this mountain,” nodded Deuce.

Dwarves, Yuu thought, studying the small furniture more closely. This was a new world—anything could exist. It didn’t seem as if Ace or Deuce were aware of ‘Dwarves’, though, so she kept silent.

“Guess it’s no use being here then.” Ace shrugged. “Well, let’s go head for the coal mines. That’s where any magic stones would be.”

Yuu glanced back at the hut. The seven dwarves, she thought to herself. With the Mirror and this hut, she was starting to wonder if Twisted Wonderland was based off the story of the Fairest One of All.

—

Around twenty minutes of walking led them to the entrance of the mine, overgrown with tree branches and greenery. Grim squeaked. “Are we really going i-in there!?”

Yuu winced. “Yeah, uh, it looks kind of scary.”

“Scared? Huh? Scared?” Ace snickered. “Lame. Need to hold my hand?”

“Shut it Ace!” Grim snarled.

“Please,” Yuu said, squeezing the proffered limb. Being in such a dark environment wasn’t quite her forte. She’d braved through Ramshackle Dorm last night but her bravery was fizzling out. There was a reason the Hat hadn’t considered Gryffindor.

Ace froze. “…You’re a weird kid,” he grumbled after a while, but didn’t pull his hand away. “Coward. Scaredy-cat.”

“Say what you will.” Yuu hung onto his un-gloved hand like a limpet. It was big and warm.

“I’m the expedition leader then!” Grim sniffed and prodded her forward. “Let’s go, henchman!”

“I’m not your henchman,” Yuu remarked, heading in with one hand clamped around Ace’s fingers.

They’d barely taken a few steps in when Deuce took a step in front of her, halting their movements. “Stop!”

“Whoa! What is it all of a sudden!?” Ace spluttered.

“Something’s coming,” Deuce squinted into the darkness.

Grim screamed. “G-g-ghosts again!?”

“Ha ha ha!” a round ghost dived out from behind a pillar of rock. “Guests!”

“First guests in ten years!” a smaller ghost bounced forwards.

“Stay a while…!” a thin one clasped its hands together. “…or, forever…!”

Yuu squeezed Ace’s hand tighter. “Do we have to drive them off again, Grim…?” she whispered.

“Aww man,” Grim whimpered back.

“We don’t have time to deal with these ghosts,” Deuce shook his head. “Listen, guys. We’re going to run on my count. I’ll scatter them. Follow me!”

“I’m really not too good at this running business…!” Yuu cautioned.

“That’s all right, just run! I’ll carry you if it gets bad,” Deuce slapped her on the back roughly. “Now come on!”

—

“Man there’s just no _end_ to it all,” Ace complained, half-dragging her along as Yuu gasped for breath.

“Don’t spare them any effort. Keep going,” Deuce commanded, his pen out and glowing slightly.

“Don’t order me around,” Ace snapped. “In the first place, if you didn’t do something that stupid, we wouldn’t even be here.”

“It’s your fault that you slacked off on window cleaning!” Deuce shot back.

“The guy who started it all is that furball that set the statue on fire!” Ace glared at Grim.

“You’re the one who made fun of me!” Grim hissed at Ace.

“Do you even have any idea of what situation we’re in?!” Deuce snapped. “If we don’t bring back the magic stone by morning, we’re all out!”

“Stop taking charge like you’re the boss or something,” Ace’s voice lowered into a growl, “you really piss me off.”

Yuu reached forwards and took Deuce’s free hand. “Um, guys. In the first place if I didn’t get blasted here from a different world then no one would be here. So you can feel free to put the blame on my shoulders. So uh…don’t get too mad at each other. We don’t really have time to fight right now.”

Deuce gaped. “ _Blasted_ here!?

Ace turned to her, his eyes narrowing shrewdly. “Wait. Different _world_?!”

“Anyway!” She squeezed their hands. “We can fight later but—wait. Do you hear that?”

“No, no, no, you’re gonna explain what the hell you meant by different—” Ace paused as a distant rumble cut him off.

Grim squeaked. “There’s something big moving…!”

Deuce took point, frowning in concentration. “Do you hear that? It’s saying something…!”

“ _The…stones…are…_ ”

“What’s the rumbling?” Yuu let go of Deuce to cling to Ace’s arm. “Um, if I’m not wrong that sounds like something huge is coming our way.”

“Yeah, it’s getting close—”

Before Deuce could finish his sentence, a great hulking humanoid figure stomped out of the shadows. “ _The stones…are…all…MINE_!”

Grim screamed.

Yuu yelped and clutched at Ace.

Ace let out an ungainly shout that overlapped with Deuce’s. “What the hell is that!?”

“Its head is a giant…giant…flask of black ink!?” Deuce backed the three of them up.

“I think we should all run,” Yuu suggested in a trembling voice.

No one argued this time.

“What the hell is that thing!?” Deuce shouted as they sprinted back the way they came.

“No one told me there were scary beasts in here!” Grim sobbed, clinging onto her neck.

“Holy shit it’s nasty!” Ace tugged her along with him when she stumbled. “Didn’t you hear it say something about a stone though?”

“ _The stones…stones…stonessss…._ ” The huge faceless creature with a bottle of ink for its head waved a huge pickaxe forward. “ _They’re all…mine!!_ ”

“…!” Yuu frowned. “Is he guarding the stones?”

“Which means there really are some left over!” Deuce grinned.

“Nononono.” Grim got out very fast, seeing the look in their eyes. “Nonono. I’m a genius but I can’t deal with that thing. It’s impossible.”

Deuce had started to glare back at the creature, his jaw set. “But if we don’t bring back a magical stone, we’re all done for…So I’m going!”

“Are you _insane!?_ ” Ace spluttered, shoving Yuu behind him reflexively when they stopped running.

“Wait a second!” Yuu wormed back out, letting go of Ace. “Deuce you can’t go by yourself! We— _watch out!_ ”

“I _can’t_ be expelled! No matter what!” Deuce shouted back.

“Deuce!” Yuu leapt forward.

“ _Leave…leave…LEAVE!_ ” the hulking giant screamed—and swung its pickaxe.

Yuu’s wandless defensive magic was subpar at best. She tackled Deuce, hissing out, “ _Protego!_ ”

It was too weak. Yuu gasped out in pain as the hit landed between her shoulder blades, sending her and Deuce skidding across the floor.

“Oi!” Ace shouted.

“Yuu!” Grim, who’d fallen from her shoulder, called out her name in fright.

“…Tch. The dumb guy with no control should just stay back with the little kid who can’t use magic!” Ace stepped forward, pen glowing. “I’ll take care of this.”

“Ace—!” Yuu tried to push herself to her feet but failed, collapsing back onto Deuce. “Ugh!”

“Take this!”

Wind filled the tunnel; the creature moaned. Seconds later she heard a dull thump followed by Ace’s cry of pain.

“…Oi!” Deuce, who’d finally gotten back his wind, clutched at her. “Why did you jump in front of me! Are you all right…!?”

“Fine! I can’t really move so just shove me off!” Yuu got out. “Go help Ace, please! He’s been hit!”

“Got it, but you _stay down_ , you hear?”

“Don’t come any closer!” Grim’s voice sounded unnaturally high-pitched. “Take this!”

The huge thing screamed again.

“My fire ain’t working at all!” his voice rose further into a squeak.

Yuu struggled to her feet, nursing her aching back, just in time to catch a spark of light flash behind the beast. “Hey! Did you guys see that flash!?”

“Wait a second, there really is something glowing behind him—!” Ace struggled to his feet.

“It’s—” Deuce squinted. An incredulous smile spread across his face. “It’s the magic stone!”

“ _Uoooooo! I won’t…I won’t…I won’t hand it over!_ ” The giant screamed.

“Hey Yuu!” shouted Ace, dashing sweat from his brow. “Can you stand!?”

“Barely… Ace, Deuce, we need to run for now! We have to figure out a way to defeat this guy.” Yuu snatched up a trembling Grim. “Strategic retreat!”

The three of them stumbled out of the mines and back into the copse of trees, gasping with adrenaline and fear. Yuu’s legs were the first to give out—despite being used to dealing with magical creatures, she’d never seen a mammoth…thing like that, not even when she was dealing with Boggarts. In addition, the blow landed on her back had barely been softened by _Protego_ , and she was a lot smaller than Ace or Deuce, a lot less muscly, a lot more vulnerable.

Yuu threw Grim up to avoid hurting him and went down in a tangle of limbs. She gasped with pain and curled up briefly as starbursts flashed behind her closed eyelids.

“Yuu!” Grim’s shout alerted the other two.

“Oi!” Ace was the first to jog back. “Are you seriously all right? You took a pretty bad hit there!”

“Fine,” Yuu gasped, holding up a hand, “One second.”

“You took a hit for me.” Deuce jogged back and looked down at her solemnly. “All right, I’ll piggyback you. Get on.”

“I can walk—”

“No you can’t. Just take him up on the offer, he’s all muscle anyway,” Ace dragged her up and onto Deuce’s back.

“Thanks,” Yuu told both of them exhaustedly, “thank you. I’m glad that I got to come here with you.”

“You’re way too light!” Deuce bounced her up a few times, his ears turning pink in the dim lighting. “Are you eating properly?”

“I’m the average weight I think?” Yuu guessed as they gathered by the hut they’d gone into before.

“As if. You’re tiny!” Ace snorted. “…But man…no one told us there was gonna be that huge freak in there. My frickin’ arm still smarts!”

“I don’t think it’s a ghost,” Deuce said thoughtfully. “After all, it was holding something physical.”

“Dude, let’s just leave and give up,” Ace complained, “If I have to fight with that thing then I’d rather get expelled.”

“Wha—!” Deuce’s shoulders tensed under her arms. He whirled around to face Ace, his voice lowering to a rumble in his chest. “Don’t screw with me. If I have to get expelled, I’d rather kill myself fighting.”

“Ha! You sure talk big for someone whose magical power is even worse than mine.” Ace snorted derisively, the same malice from that morning twisting his well-proportioned face into a sneer. “If you really wanna go, just go by yourself! I’m done here.”

“Oh, is that _so!_ ” Deuce’s voice gained a guttural edge. “Then a spineless cowardly bastard like you should just sit and tremble!”

“Huuuuh?” Ace’s smile widened angrily. “Who the hell’re you calling a coward?”

Grim muttered, “Deuce’s character is completely changing.”

“Deuce, you all right?” Yuu patted him on the shoulder. Carrying a human on his back had to put some stress on him.

“—!” Deuce gasped and then coughed several times. “Ahem! My bad. I just, er, lost my cool for a second.”

“Sure,” Grim said doubtfully.

“Well, we didn’t have a plan last time, which is why we failed. But you know, I don’t think we necessarily have to defeat that thing to get the rocks,” Yuu propped her chin on his shoulder and said thoughtfully, “there are four of us and one of him, right?”

“Can’t you guys use some flashy powerful magic and go all BAM! And beat it up?” Grim muttered.

“Large-scale magic and complex spells require training to do,” Deuce explained.

“The whole reason why we’re at this school,” added Ace, “is to learn that stuff. You need a ton of practice to do whatever you want with magic. If I wanna be honest, panicking in this situation is gonna make it real hard.”

“Interesting,” Yuu said, eyes sparkling. “I never heard you guys doing incantations or anything, so I just thought everyone was managing to use magic with their mood or something.”

“Well, I mean if it’s the area of magic you’re gifted in, you can pretty much use it naturally,” Ace shrugged.

“In any case, I am going to go back in there and defeat that giant beast somehow and get the magic stone,” Deuce cut across them sternly.

“Seriously? With the chandelier and now this…” Ace sighed. “You really are an idiot, huh?”

“What did you just call me?”

“Hard of hearing, too?”

“Listen here you little _punk_.”

Yuu sighed and cleared her throat, angling her head away from Deuce’s ear. She sucked in a breath. “SHUT UP!”

“Wh-whoa.” Deuce wavered with her weight before he stood up straight.

“Holy shit man, how did you get that huge voice to come out from that tiny body?” Ace gaped at her, distracted from his needling.

“Sorry.” she said sheepishly. “I had to use my belly voice ‘cause you weren’t listening. Um. I was saying this earlier, but there are four of us and one of it, right? It’s literally the simplest thing to get a magical stone.”

“Simplest?” Ace squinted at her. “What, you got any clues, shorty?”

“Well yeah. One of us approaches that er…thing?”

“Thing,” Ace affirmed.

“Making a racket, as a decoy.” Yuu continued. “And the other three hide in the shadows. It’s got no eyes, so I was examining it earlier, but it seems that it tracks movement by noise. Therefore, if one of us is really loud we should be able to mask the footsteps of the other three.”

“And then…?” Deuce said blankly.

“And then the other three—one of us—sneaks behind and grabs a rock.” Yuu explained. “Then they pass the rock over and the one in front distracts while the others run. We can change the distraction team to two if it gets tough. That thing looks pretty strong.”

Ace raised both eyebrows at her.

“After that we get the heck out of there, go through the mirror, and tell whoever your teacher is that the Headmaster sent us into a dangerous area with a gigantic beast,” Yuu finished. “So that he’ll look extremely bad if he decides he wants to expel you guys. How’s that for a plan?”

Deuce said slowly, “Wow, you’re pretty smart. What was your name again?”

“Yuu,” she said.

“Yuu,” repeated Ace, a wicked smile spreading over his face. “I like that last bit. You’re not as dumb as I thought you were.”

“Still. I have no intentions of cooperating with that guy,” Deuce said flatly.

“Right. Teamwork? Lame as hell, man.” Snorted Ace, immediately gaining the sneer as he stared over at Deuce.

“What’s lamer, getting expelled on the first day of classes or cooperating?” Grim put in.

Ace clicked his tongue but didn’t respond.

Yuu grinned at the catlike Monster and gave him a thumbs up. “Nice.”

“Oh, shut it, Yuu. Well? Who’s gonna do what?” Ace stretched his arms. “We better hurry if we wanna get out of here before morning.”

—

Yuu regained consciousness to the vertigo of her entire body swaying. The pain hit her a second later.

“Grim?” she managed in a voice hoarse with the effort of swallowing a scream. “Ace! Deuce! You guys all right?”

“Worry about yourself a little!” grunted a voice right beside her head. When Yuu turned, she was met with a face full of Ace’s wild mop of hair as he ran. “When I saw that thing hit you in the stomach, I nearly had a heart attack!”

“Yuu! Yuu! You’re awake!” Grim’s voice floated into earshot from somewhere up ahead. He sounded teary. “You’re alive!”

“Really!? Thank God! Ace, do you want me to carry him?” Deuce’s voice echoed back to them.

“You’ve got the rock, just keep running!” Ace managed. “This little runt’s the lightest thing I’ve had to carry all day!”

“We got it!” Yuu lifted her head and then put it down again. “Oww. I might have a concussion.”

“What the hell is someone without magic doing putting themselves on the front line!” Ace’s complaints flowed like a stream from his mouth. “Just a while ago you fricking dove in front of that Juice guy to save his life too. Are you an idiot? A real live idiot?”

“It’s Deuce _! Deu_! Not Ju!”

“We got the rock!” Yuu cheered weakly, flinging her arms around Ace’s neck. “You guys are the best!”

“Hell yeah we did!” Deuce growled rather animalistically.

“It’s still coming after us—we’re not out of the woods yet.” Ace puffed out a breath.

“Hilarious,” Yuu deadpanned, her voice tight with pain, as the trees rushed past. “Very punny.”

“Well? What’s the next plan, Yuu the Wise? It’s gonna catch up sooner or later.”

“I was thinking,” Yuu explained, “you know how oxygen gives power to fire? And I’m guessing your strong point is wind-element magic, right? If we can’t outrun it, sooner or later we’re going to have to fight it. Grim has fire, you have wind. It’s a perfect combination.”

The four of them broke out from the woods just as a huge bellow shook the trees from behind them. Ace, panting, set Yuu down and she pulled them to the other side of the bridge as she explained her battle plan, ignoring the twin spots of fiery pain coming from her side and back. She wondered if she’d hurt a rib. At least her headache and dizziness were receding.

“I can’t do magic—” at least not their magic. “—So I’ll focus on observing and tell you guys when and where its attacks are coming.”

“Just like we did before, back in that shack with the other ghosts?” Grim nodded. “I’m on board with that idea.”

“Great. And if we can direct the spells in line with each other, there’s a good chance we can really amp up the power to hit him hard,” Yuu explained. “Like fanning Grim’s flame with Ace’s wind.”

“Why the hell do I have to cooperate with that guy?” Ace grumbled, pointing at Deuce.

“As if I’d want to work with you,” Deuce retorted, giving him the stink-eye.

“It’s going to be fine. You guys did a real number on it from behind when I took a hit, I saw,” Yuu said weakly, rubbing at her bruising stomach.

“Yeah, well, this time you’re going to stay the hell off the front lines like a self-sacrificial idiot,” Ace turned on her.

“Isn’t it good to be self-sacrificial?” she quipped, grinning up at him.

“This school isn’t for anyone who endorses those sickeningly pure ideals,” Deuce rolled his eyes, to her surprise. He hadn’t seemed like someone who would call ideals ‘sickening’. “Anyway, I don’t wanna see you fly into the air like a rag doll again, so stay out of the way and just tell us when to shoot what. You seem pretty smart, so I’m trusting you, all right, Yuu?”

Yuu stared at him.

Ace waved a gloved hand in front of her face. “O~i. Earth to Yuu!”

“I trust you too!” Yuu lunged forward and grabbed onto Deuce’s hands, staring him earnestly in the eyes. “I’m trusting you to beat the heck out of that thing! So trust me!”

“O…kay?” Deuce blinked several times and tried not to grin. “You’re a weird kid, aren’t you?”

“A~ah. Stop being all lovey-dovey, you two, and let’s do this. Better not get scared, you serious moron!” Ace rolled his eyes at them.

“I’m not a moron! And same to you, punk!” Deuce sent him a glare.

Grim puffed up, regaining his confidence. “I’m gonna give it a taste of my _real_ power!”

—

The battle against the hulking, faceless creature was much easier once the four of them could focus on attacking him in an open space. True to Yuu’s expectations, Grim’s fireballs were almost triply powerful when paired with Ace’s wind magic. It didn’t take long for their opponent to stagger backwards as it lost momentum.

“Grim! Finish it!” Yuu cried out a few steps away. “And Ace, add some oomph behind his fireball if you can!”

“ _Funaa!_ ”

“Take that, you big bully!”

The dying roar of the beast sent sound waves shooting through the ground like an earthquake. The river churned and spat water over its edge; the door and foundation of the small hut creaked ominously. Yuu yelped and fell onto her butt as the hulking giant froze and then broke into a stream of ash, a condensed crystal of something black falling onto the ground in its place with an unceremonious thump.

Deuce bent over, wiping the sweat from his brow, and caught his breath. Ace stared with his pen still half-raised, gaping at the remains of the once-enormous creature.

Grim sank to the ground with a tired groan. Yuu snapped out of her own daze, ignoring the band of pain across her back and stomach, and scrambled over to the three of them in excitement.

“We…did it?” Ace gawked, clearly not having expected to win.

“We won…The Great Grim…we won!” Grim threw his hands in the air.

Yuu caught up to him and picked him up. “You were all smashing! I can’t believe you all actually defeated it!”

“We did it!” Deuce came in close with both hands up. Yuu put Grim on her shoulder and slapped him a high five before trading another one with a similarly grinning Ace.

“I can’t believe it—that thing was _huge_!”

“Hell yeah it was!” Ace seemed a little high on adrenaline; he gathered her over for a noogie. Yuu swallowed down a yelp of pain. “Man, what are you, some strategist? What the hell was with those directions!”

“I knew Yuu had a good head on his shoulders!” Deuce puffed out his head.

Ace gave him dead fish eyes. “Hey, I knew him way before you did.”

“Yeah, if you mean bullied him.”

“Huh?”

“Wanna go?”

“Oh, come on, you two,” Yuu laughed, “Victory handshake!”

“Woo-hoo!”

“But it’s not like I get along with these weirdoes or anything,” Deuce was quick to add.

“Tch. As if I’d look at you twice,” Ace shot back.

“Yeah! We won because I was a genius, all right, Yuu? Not because we cooperated or anything!” Grim ignored both of them.

“Are you kidding me? Maybe you guys didn’t see, but that move where Deuce dropped three cauldrons successively on the thing’s head was to _die_ for,” Yuu said excitedly. “It was just one after another, like _bam! Bam! Bam!_ ”

“How many cauldrons do you have?!” Grim spluttered at him.

“Couldn’t you think of something else to drop?” muttered Ace. He sighed. “…Oh, all right, Yuu. It isn’t cool to keep denying it. Your plan worked way better than I expected.”

“I’m impressed Yuu was able to keep a cool head in a situation like that and call the shots so accurately,” agreed Deuce. He went a little misty-eyed as he continued, “this means we don’t have to get expelled…Thank God!”

“Come on, stop making this about me,” Yuu dismissed it, “I just stood there while you guys did the heavy lifting.”

“Yeah, ‘cause you took two hits head on.” Ace shot back.

“Honestly I was about to direct us to make a run for the Mirror instead of actually defeating it, but you all were stronger than I thought.” She finished. “Anyway, we’re all safe, which is what matters.”

“You sound like a girl,” snickered Ace.

_I am a girl, though._ Yuu squinted, a little confused. But they were in a hurry, so she let it go. “Let’s hurry up and get back. I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted.”

“Same here.” Ace yawned. “All right, let’s go.”

“Wait a sec…I used up too much magic…I’m hungry…” Grim complained. “What’s that black thing on the ground? Candy?”

Yuu frowned. “Candy—wait. That came from the thing we just defeated, Grim! Don’t—”

“Smells good…” Grim leapt from her shoulders and picked up what looked like a piece of black glass with his paws.

“A black rock?” Deuce frowned. “Doesn’t seem to be a magic stone.”

“But it’s like…glass…” Ace squinted. “…Oi. Don’t _eat_ it, furball.”

“It smells real good!”

“You gotta be kidding me!”

“Maybe it’s food!” Grim licked his lips. “ _Man_ I can’t take this smell!”

“He really ate it!” Yuu spluttered, jogging over as he shoved the entire thing in his mouth. “Hey! Grim! Spit it out!”

Grim froze.

“—Oi! Is he okay!?” Deuce started to panic.

“That moron. Didn’t they teach him not to eat from the floor?” Ace shook his head in mock sympathy.

“Ugh…this…this is…”

“Grim! Spit it out! Right now!” Yuu said worriedly, patting him on the back.

“This is…” Grim spun around, his eyes sparkling. “ _Delicious!_ ”

The three of them harmonized perfectly, “…Huh?”

“This slowness of the flavour! The unspeakable depth! It’s like a flower field opened up in my mouth!” Grim chewed furiously. “I’ve never tasted anything this good! Mm~!”

Yuu dropped her hands. “…?” she turned to Ace and Deuce and pointed at Grim. “…??”

“Calm down, Yuu,” snickered Deuce.

“Guess Monsters have different taste buds compared to humans,” Ace wrinkled his nose in disgust.

“I should suspend my human sensibilities,” Yuu sighed, shoulders slumping. “As if I didn’t have to suspend my disbelief after landing in this world.”

“Right, right. I wanted to ask you about that,” Ace nodded as Grim bounced up onto Yuu’s shoulder on her outstretched arm. “About the whole thing you said earlier.” The four of them began to head back the way they came in tacit agreement.

“What do you mean, blasted to another world?” Deuce was less subtle.

So Yuu explained to them as they walked the series of curious events that had led her to wake up in the coffin and become an odd-jobs worker in the school grounds, excluding only a few things—like how she was a witch. She figured it was the least she could do, since Yuu had become fond of these two and Deuce had said he trusted her. Ace and Deuce were good listeners, although the former tended to start teasing with little provocation.

“Wait…that’s why you came all this way without _shoes_?” Deuce pointed to the ground.

Yuu, who had laid a Cushioning Charm on her socks, blinked and wiggled the dirt-encrusted toes. “Yeah, I don’t have shoes on me. I was in my room before I came here so it’s just me and my socks, I guess.”

“Seriously…” Ace looked a little disgusted. “Can’t the Headmaster give you a pair of shoes at least? I mean, come on.”

“Yuu…you’ve been through a lot these past couple days…” Deuce patted her on the shoulder. “And you have absolutely nothing on you! Just tell me if you need my help for anything!”

“Aw, don’t make a big deal out of it,” Yuu scratched her head modestly.

“Nonsense. At least let me lend you a pair of shoes!”

“This is why morons are…” Ace sighed. “Dude. Look at his feet. Now look at your feet. Lending him shoes isn’t gonna do anything other than make the poor kid trip.”

“…Yuu…” Deuce squinted at her socks. “Why are you so unbelievably small? Are you really a teenage boy?”

I’m a teenage girl, she wanted to say, but it seemed too troublesome to explain after all the ‘different world’ stuff. She had a feeling that they would blow it out of proportion, since they were both of the opinion she was male. Maybe she’d tell them after this whole fiasco was solved.

“I’m still in my growth period,” she settled with at last.

“Man, you’re a lot tougher than I expected though,” Ace nodded. “If I got sent across worlds randomly, I’d have been pissed off. Or lose my mind.”

“Yuu really is nothing like an NRC student,” Deuce furrowed his brow.

“True that. Anyone else would’ve snapped already.” Ace agreed, for once, with his classmate. “I mean instead of being apologized to you get shoved in that terrible old building with Ghosts? And forced to clean the street? Man, talk about getting the short end of the stick.”

“Huh? Why?” Yuu tilted her head at him. “Headmaster was really good to me. He could’ve just left me to fend for myself.”

“It’s his damn fault you got dragged here in the first place,” Deuce grumbled. “And forcing you to do all that work without shoes on…!”

“You know, when you think about it…” Ace wrinkled his nose. “Yuu has a disgustingly nice personality.”

“Disgustingly nice…?” Yuu echoed. It was a rather refreshing way to be referred to. For a girl who was nearly sorted into Slytherin, she was sure it was also a misnomer.

Deuce nodded, evidently in agreement. “Absolutely repulsively nice. I wonder why he got sent here?”

“You and me both, Deuce,” sighed Yuu.

“No, not this world, this _school_. In the first place you would’ve been more natural fitting in with those RSA guys,” Ace mumbled.

When the three of them, plus one Grim dozing off on her shoulder, finally arrived back through the mirror—Yuu clinging desperately onto Deuce as they passed through—they bumped into Crowley, who was striding through the chamber.

“Ah…The three of you…” Crowley mumbled, and then did a double take, whirling to face them. “Oh my!? What on earth happened to the three of you!? You look like you’ve been through a blender!”

“Yuu,” Deuce patted her as the light of the mirror faded. “You can let go now. We’re back.”

Yuu cracked one eye open. “Oh thank God.” She let go of him. “I think I hate mirror travel.”

Ace snickered. “Scaredy-cat.”

“Don’t tell me you really went to the Mines on Mount Dwarf to look for the magic stone!?” spluttered Crowley.

The three of them harmonized, “Huh?”

Crowley pressed his metal-tipped gloves to his mouth theatrically. “I didn’t expect them to _actually_ go…” he glanced towards the lump of glowing purple stone in Deuce’s hand and added, “and to come back _successful_ , of all things…”

Yuu raised her brow and wondered how much of Crowley’s theatrics were an act. Surely from Deuce’s personality he could have guessed that the three of them would wind up braving the danger. Had he known there was something lurking in the depths of the mines?

“I don’t believe it…” Crowley shook his head, sighing exaggeratedly. “I even went and got all of your expulsion paperwork done.”

“When we were being attacked by an unbelievable beast…!” Deuce got through gritted teeth.

“Unbelievable beast?” Crowley went still.

Ace narrowed his eyes. “You bet. A huge, _nasty_ , violent thing that nearly killed Yuu twice! You know how close we were to not coming back at _all_?”

“Says the guy who almost gave up,” Yuu sing-songed under her breath.

Ace nudged her in the shoulder. “Oi, not the time.”

Crowley was suddenly in her face. “Specifics, please. What do you mean Yuu-san almost died?”

Yuu yelped. She hadn’t even seen him move.

They ended up relocating to the Headmaster’s Office, a room cloaked in purple with unmoving portraits of the Great Seven—identical to the statues that lined Main Street—floating aimlessly through the air. Crowley took his seat at the back of the room behind his office desk and waved three chairs over for them to sit in as Ace and Deuce went through their adventure on Mount Dwarf with some embellishment.

Yuu watched the sky’s navy blue thin into pastels of pre-dawn sleepily. She hurt everywhere. Maybe once she got back to the Ramshackle Dorm, she’d risk an _Episkey_ with her wand—but Yuu was _terrible_ with healing magic, terrible enough to have abandoned any inkling of doing it wandless. It made her subpar defensive magic look good.

“…see,” Crowley’s clear voice was oddly soothing to her half-conscious brain. “I suppose I will have to check Yuu-san for any injuries afterwards, then.”

“Yeah, that’d be a good idea,” Deuce sounded subdued. “He took a hit for me, Headmaster. And the second time—it was really bad, the thing hit him with full force and he just sort of got flung across the cave like…like…”

“Hey, Headmaster. Are you sure this kid should be admitted into this school? He looks like he’s twelve.” Ace sounded free of his joking tone, for once. “I mean…it’s NRC. Isn’t it dangerous for an ignorant little kid to be exposed to this school without protection? Hell—he can’t even use the most basic self-defence in form of magic. He’s gonna get murdered.”

“Ah, but you two,” Crowley said after a pause. “Would you both have been able to make it back without Yuu-san’s presence tonight?”

The ensuing silence almost pushed Yuu right over the edge of her drowsiness into dreamland.

Crowley sighed. “That’s what I thought. The reason you three were able to use your magic together smoothly—in fact, the reason why the two of you are not at each other’s throats right now…I’m sure you know who to attribute that to.”

“Yeah but—wait a second, is he sleeping!?” Ace spluttered, turning in her direction.

“This kid really is shameless,” Deuce mumbled.

“Oh my. Yuu-san! Please stay awake for a little longer,” Crowley called.

Yuu lifted her unbearably heavy head. “Yessir,” she mumbled sleepily.

“Yuu-san. Am I correct in assuming the four of you made a joint effort to defeat the beast and retrieve the magic stone tonight?” Crowley laced his hands under his chin and leaned forward.

“It wasn’t really a joint effort,” Ace grumbled.

“Our goal happened to be the same, that’s all,” Deuce mumbled.

“I would’ve been goners if the three of these guys didn’t work together,” Yuu said blearily, petting a still-dozing Grim. “They can really be amazing, you know. I didn’t know magic could work like that.”

It was the truth. Yuu liked duelling, but barring life-and-death battles, it was usually a one-on-one, rather dull affair. As rehearsed as a pre-recorded speech. To team up and take down something stronger than themselves in the heat of the moment was far more impressive.

The magic they used in this world was also far lighter, far quicker and dare she say…more colourful than the magic she was used to. As if the bright bursts of scarlet fire and viridian wind contained elements themselves. It looked, in Ace’s words, cool.

This world’s magic reminded her a bit of the fairy dust used for Potions ingredients. Fairy dust had inherent magical properties due to the way it was made, and one didn’t have to be especially bright to scatter it over an area to take effect. The magic Yuu was used to wielding was unmanageable, wild, and exhausting—a far greater, fatter mass than the spells she’d seen here. It was also woven into her being, not an external force like the magic she’d seen today. Which meant…

She was broken out of her stupor when Crowley made a funny moaning noise. Yuu rubbed her eyes and squinted with mild interest as the headmaster buried his head in his hands and burst into loud sobs.

Grim jerked awake on her shoulder. “…What the…What’s a grown man doing wailing like a baby?”

“I am just about as confused as you are,” Yuu shrugged.

Ace shook his head with an incredulous laugh. “I should’ve charged my smartphone and recorded this.”

Deuce looked vaguely repulsed. Yuu pointed out his expression to Ace and they burst into suppressed chortling. It was totally worth the pain rocketing up her side.

“Of all my time…” blubbered Crowley, “Of the X decades I’ve been the headmaster of this school…!”

“Wait a second, how old _is_ he?” Grim put in.

“That I could live to see the day…that students of the Night Raven College joined hands to face down an enemy!!” Crowley buried his mask in his gloves and wailed. “ _Waaaah!_ ”

“Wha—!” Deuce jerked back. “I didn’t hold hands with _him!_ ” he pointed at Ace as if pointing at a piece of dung stuck to his shoe.

“Who’d hold hands with you? Don’t make me sick,” Ace wrinkled his nose.

“Huh? I feel like I was hanging onto one of you for most of the trip though,” Yuu squinted. “Plus Grim.”

“Yeah, well, you’re small.” Ace said lamely.

“Yuu’s different,” Deuce agreed.

Crowley lifted his head suddenly, birdlike. “Hearing that has impressed me _ferociously!_ ”

“That I’m a coward?” Yuu muttered. Ace and Deuce stifled grins.

“I have finally gotten my proof. Yuu-san! You are, without a doubt, blessed with the potential to be a fearsome animal tamer!” Crowley said dramatically, his tears gone.

“Animal tamer? You mean Grim?” Yuu squinted. But they’d already been through this last night.

“I’m not an animal! I’m a Monster!” Grim protested.

“As I have told you, the students chosen by Night Raven College’s Mirror are all eggs that will hatch into legendary magicians,” explained Crowley.

“Eggs? But mammals don’t hatch eggs,” Deuce mumbled confusedly.

“It’s a figure of speech, moron,” Ace muttered back.

“You’re the moron!”

“However! Due to their potential—their talent—they are unbelievably proud and egoistical, confident in themselves. The school is full of narcissistic, selfish brats who put their own…vibrant personalities…ahead of all else and would not _think_ of cooperating with another student if the word bit them in the behind.”

“Wow,” Yuu blinked, “get insulted, guys.”

“He’s literally just snubbing everyone who goes here,” Grim muttered.

“Yuu-san, however—cannot use magic.”

_I can,_ she thought.

“Because of this! Somehow, for reasons beyond me, you have managed to wrangle these self-centred students to cooperate like this and accomplish things that even I thought would never be possible.” Crowley smiled widely. “I’m sure it’s someone as unremarkably dull and normal as you who this school needed all this time!”

“Your turn to get insulted,” snickered Ace.

Crowley smiled at her. “Yuu-san. I am sure that you are unmistakably going to be a very…important asset to the future of this school. My teacher’s instinct is telling me so!”

“Really? I don’t think so?” Yuu squinted. “I’m just some random kid who got sent here by accident though.”

Once again, Crowley was back to ignoring her. “Mister Trappola! Mister Spade! I hereby remove your sentence of expulsion from the school—and together with that…”

Yuu rubbed her eyes sleepily.

“Yuu-san. No, Yuu-kun. I hereby admit you to the Night Raven College with the full privileges and rights of a student!” Crowley finished with a flourish.

Suddenly wide awake, Yuu stared at the headmaster as Ace and Deuce leapt upright, shouting, “What!?”

“Me!?” she spluttered.

Grim squeaked, “My henchman!?”

“Wait, wait a second. I can’t be a student at a magic development academy if I don’t have any _magic_ ,” Yuu put up a hand, trying to remain rational. Too many crazy things had happened today.

“Yes you can! Since I am an _amazingly_ nice person.” Crowley clasped his hands in front of him. “Ah, however, there is a condition. Since you do not possess magic, I’m sure that you’ll understand when I say it is impossible to admit you as a magician. Taking classes will be difficult as well, I’m sure. This is where Mister Grim comes in.”

Grim pricked his flaming ears. “Me?”

“On the contrary, you have much of the raw power needed to become a magician, as shown today,” Crowley nodded. “Therefore! Together with Yuu-kun, you two are two in one—admitted to Night Raven College as a single entity.”

Grim sounded shaky when he managed, “So, the Great Grim…so I can attend this school? Not as a chores boy…as a student?”

Yuu squeezed him.

“Yes,” Crowley said gently. Then he glared at them. “However! You will not cause any more incidents like today—yesterday morning! Understood?”

“ _Funa, funaa_ ……” Grim’s blue eyes went glassy with tears. “Yuu…I…”

“Congrats, Grim! Your wish got fulfilled!” Yuu held him at eye level, beaming at him. “I’m proud of you!”

“I did it!” wailed Grim, flinging his paws around her neck.

“Well then, if you could turn this way, Mister Grim, I shall provide you with the magic stone signifying your license as a student.”

Yuu spun him around; Crowley waved his fingers, and a sparkle of light preceded a small silver collar’s appearance around his neck. The magic stone that hung from it glowed briefly, a muted purple that matched the surrounding décor.

“Originally, students are supposed to use Magical Pens with magic stones attached to them, but with your rather round appendages, I figured that this was a better choice. Oh, how kind I am!” Crowley said dramatically.

“Look, Yuu!” Grim ignored him. “Don’t I look awesome? I’m cool, aren’t I?”

“It matches your white patch of fur on your chest really well,” complimented Yuu. “Oh, wait a second. Here, wear this ribbon underneath so you don’t chafe.”

She took off the ribbon around the neck of the shirt she wore under her sweater vest—it was a little singed from the fight they’d just been through—and wound it under his collar, fastening it behind his head in a smart bow. “There you go.”

Grim looked like he was ready to fly straight through the roof. “This is the best collar that’s ever existed!”

“No one’s listening to me, I see,” sighed Crowley. “Yuu-kun, you can see that Mister Grim is rather…unaccustomed to societal rules. I am leaving it up to you to take the reins properly and make sure he does not cause trouble by directing him!”

Ace laughed. “Hey, this has gotta be a historical first! Yuu, you’re pretty amazing, huh? You haven’t even been a student for an hour and you’re already a Directing Student?”

“I see…since your dorm only has two students…” Deuce puzzled out, “So Yuu, who’s entrusted with Grim’s direction, gets to be the Directing Student?”

“Dude, I can’t take this,” Ace snickered, “A Directing Student who can’t use any magic! …I like it. Doesn’t it have a cool ring to it?”

“Huh…” Yuu blinked several times. “So as a half-student, I get to go to classes now? Wait. What about my whole way home thing?”

“Oh, that?” Crowley grinned and flapped his hand. “Don’t worry about it! We’ll search for it!”

“I don’t believe him at all,” Yuu told Ace and Deuce.

“He just said you were an important asset for the future,” Ace agreed. “Just give up and try your best, Lord Directing Student!”

“I see…Directing Student…” Crowley smiled. “I have just the thing! Now that you have a title, it should be easy to pile work—er, I would like to entrust you with an artifact. It is called the Ghost Camera!”

“Ghost…” Yuu blinked as he set a palm-sized square camera in front of her. Yuu dimly remembered seeing Kodxk disposable cameras like this when she was very young. “Why ghost?”

“I think I might’ve heard about it from my grandma,” Ace piped up, squinting at it. “I hear it’s a reaaaaally old magical artifact.”

“It’s not _that_ reaaaaaaally old…ahem.” Crowley sighed. “It is true that it might have been invented when your great or great-great grandmother was a little child.”

“How old _is_ the headmaster?” mumbled Deuce.

“Anyway! There is an enchantment on this camera so that instead of capturing just the target, it can also take a picture of part of their souls!”

Sounded like moving magical photography, Yuu thought privately.

“Or one can call it taking a picture of a memory altogether.” Crowley explained. “And! The interesting thing about this enchantment is! Depending on the depth of the bond between the wielder—the cameraman—and the one being captured through the lens, the memory captured can jump out from the taken picture, move, interact with you, and all sorts of things!”

Yuu blinked. “How on earth does that work?!”

“As the cameraman becomes closer with the subject, pictures of the subject will move like videos, gain corporeal form, jump out of the picture, and such. Isn’t it interesting?”

“Jump out?” Squawked Deuce. “Like Spirit Photography!?”

“The subject’s still alive, Deuce,” Yuu said dryly.

“Well, that is why it is called the Ghost Camera.” Crowley shrugged. “In the age before videos existed, it was developed to keep memories as close to reality as possible…however, when they saw the corporeal forms of the subjects in the picture, they reacted in a similar way to Mister Spade and shrieked about ghosts. Which is why they were extremely afraid of taking pictures and having their picture taken by this camera.”

“Sounds like it’s literally just good for making a racket,” Ace shrugged. “We’ve got phones that do better now.”

“Mister Directing Student. Please take this camera and film students, your school life, and Mister Grim with this camera as part of your everyday duties,” Crowley said.

“That’s it?” Yuu said dumbly. She picked up the camera, aimed it at Grim. “Hey, say cheese.”

“You got it, henchman! Be sure to take a good picture of me!”

Yuu fiddled with the camera, snapped a photo of Grim, and then snapped one of Crowley for good measure. She wasn’t sure it worked, as nothing happened—no flash of light, no reaction.

Yuu clicked the shutter several times in quick succession. Nothing.

“Is it broken?” Deuce peered down over her shoulder in interest.

Yuu shrugged at him.

“Please always take a Memory of when that creature becomes hard to control,” Crowley added in a strained voice as Yuu checked the insides for film. “It can serve as a replacement for reports to me.”

“How do I develop this film?” Yuu asked, ignoring him. “Also, can I have a scrapbook to keep pictures in?”

“I will direct you to the Mystery Shop to do just that later on this week. Oh…just how kind am I to hand you a magical artifact and even directions on how to sue it…I astound myself sometimes.” Crowley pressed a glove to his mask theatrically.

Yuu yawned. “Thank you very much, Headmaster.”

Crowley sighed at her fondly. “Very well. It is late…or early. Let us save the details for later on, and off to bed with you four. Good night!”

“G’night,” Yuu rubbed her eyes.

“Well then, if you will excuse us,” Deuce tugged her upright to leave.

They emerged onto the second-floor hallway, its window side completely cut open coliseum-style, displaying a sea of stars and so many ramparts poking into the sky on their other side. Ace and Deuce ignored the beautiful scenery by complaining vocally about how tired they were, how close it had been to expulsion for them, ad nauseum.

Yuu subtly snapped a picture of their exaggeratedly long faces. Still no reaction. How did someone use this thing?

“Can’t believe I’m gonna be a student here tomorrow!” Grim hopped up and down on her shoulder. “Just watch me beat the two of you and become first in my year!”

“Oh come on, you’re half a student! Wouldn’t you have to get two hundred percent to become first?” Ace teased him. “Good for you, furball.”

“We’re classmates from tomorrow, then, Grim. Yuu.”

“Huh? Me too?” Yuu pointed at herself.

“Obviously. Who else is going to watch over that fire-starter?” Ace rolled his eyes.

“Right…but I really know _nothing_ about your magic, all right? Like…literally Kindergarten level,” Yuu warned. “So I might ask you guys for help if you don’t mind. I’ll be relying on you!”

“Ah~ all right, all right, I suppose I can deign to help you once or twice,” Ace waved her off. “Stop with the formalities, it’s embarrassing.”

“I guess he’s right,” Deuce’s face softened in a surprisingly gentle smile. “Starting tomorrow I’ll be seeing your faces every day ‘til I get sick of them anyway. Especially this guy, since we’re in the Heartslabyul dorm together.”

Ace’s eyes narrowed with that wicked grin. “When I think of having to greet this overly serious guy every day, I can feel my consciousness fading already.”

“That’s my line…slacker Ace.”

“Yeah, yeah, poor Deuce who nearly started sobbing at the idea of expulsion.” Ace shot back.

“Um, guys,” Yuu intervened just before they started to fight. “Let’s take a picture together! Using the Ghost Camera. You know, as a commemoration.”

“Aww, what, you like us so much you want a picture of us to carry around or something?” Ace teased.

“Well…” Yuu thought for a second. “If you put it that way.”

“Huh!? I was just kidding!”

“You guys are my favourite people on this planet,” she said frankly. “Please?”

Ace made an exaggerated face at her, but didn’t turn to leave. If she looked closer, his face was kind of pink.

“Yuu…” Deuce looked touched. “Leave it to me! I’ve got longer arms, so I can hit the shutter. Come on in!”

“You too, Grim,” Yuu tugged him onto her shoulder as Deuce and Ace gathered on either side of her. “Say cheese!”

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
> **Edited |** December 31st, 2020 for grammar, better definitions, and minor details like the name ‘Mount Dwarf’ taken from the Magical Archives.
> 
> —
> 
> **Definitions |**
> 
> _Yuu’s nightwear_ | In many older Disney movies, those of all ages and genders wear nightgowns (Ebenezer Scrooge etc.) that aren’t necessarily ‘feminine’—basically, a long robe. In fact, early nightgowns or nightdresses, also called nightshirts, were worn more by men than women. (See [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightgown#Nightgowns_as_dressing_gowns:_18th_and_early_19th_centuries) and try Googling for examples.) From my research into Mickey Mouse’s room and the time period that his earlier movies were made, it seems more likely that the (male) ghosts living in Ramshackle at NRC, a relatively affluent school, would have worn these unisex nightgowns at night instead of more modern (?) pajamas that have a separate top and bottom. Of course, our protagonist Yuu couldn’t care less what her nightwear is so basically just borrows from the dusty closets.
> 
> _henchman (子分, kobun)_ | what Grim thinks Yuu is. There are couple of nuances that is impossible to translate; basically, the phrase means they are a “child figure” of the “parental figure” (親分, oyabun) and follow the oyabun’s orders. In return, the oyabun takes care of them and they are considered a “group” together. Yakuza in bad movies use this phrasing a lot so it’s definitely not very civilized…
> 
> _directing student (監督生, kantokusei)_ | Yuu’s new title. There are also the alternative translations of ‘prefect’, ‘praepostor’ and such, but the former resembles Hogwarts’ Prefects a little too much and the second one sounds pretentious to me 😂. So I took a more literal translation since 監督 means director, overseer, supervisor and 生 is student.
> 
> —
> 
> Thank you for reading! (And please do drop a comment below!)
> 
> —


	3. The Feeling of Belonging.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace gets in trouble with his Dorm Head. Yuu tries to help him apologize, but things don't go so well...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
> Happy Birthday, Ace! ❤ I wish you heaps of cherry pies and cake!
> 
> —

—

Yuu had counted three minutes and thirty-three seconds before the Sorting Hat at pushed her into Ravenclaw. It had been utterly silent for one of those minutes, confused for another, and debated between Slytherin and Ravenclaw for the remainder of the time she had sat, feet dangling off the wooden stool, her eyes obscured by the black fabric.

It was probably because the hat didn’t quite know what to make of her—a common expression she would find on her professors’ faces were a slight bemused smile, a lifting of the brows in surprise; surely, she had not angered them or disgusted them, but all the same Yuu was aware that she wasn’t quite…the regular student. She was missing something that allowed her to blend in with the rest of them.

Still, she thought Ravenclaw might have been the best decision the Hat could have made even four years later. Yuu might have possessed a stunning lack of ambition, bravery, and goodwill that other children had in spades, but her ferocious, unabating hunger for magic made up for it all. Quiet and uninvolved when unprovoked, Yuu would burst into a flurry of activity—a whirlwind of speech—when she found something to be curious about.

With her arrival in the strange world of Twisted Wonderland, Yuu had learned that she wasn’t just curious about _her_ magic. It turned out that separate worlds, an entirely different magic system, all of this stimulated her ravenous hunger like nothing else. It didn’t hurt that she was now living with a magical creature the likes of which she didn’t know existed. She could almost call herself excited—excited in a way she hadn’t felt since her first year.

Magic had saved Yuu. Now this world was powering her motivation and mood in a way she hadn’t felt in a long time.

Yuu had overslept on the second day, which was to be expected, since it was hours past midnight when she and Grim finally dragged themselves back to Ramshackle Dorm. However, Crowley had swept her off as soon as she pushed the door to Ramshackle’s lounge open late in the morning and commanded her to show him her wounds, where she had been hit, because he was ‘too kind’ to allow an injured student to stay that way.

So Yuu let him pull her into what looked like a quiet infirmary, filled with rows of curtained beds and one doctor’s desk, and was sat on a pristinely made white bed while Crowley bustled out of the room. She had been mostly successful last night in easing the bruising on her back—hissing _Episkey_ over and over in the washroom during her shower so Grim wouldn’t see—but her stomach and side was livid with a rash of dark purple, and she had been far too tired to keep using her weakest magic.

A moment later, Crowley strode back into the room, followed by a stunningly tall man whose parted hair was snowy white on one side and pitch black on the other, all artfully styled to fall slightly over his eyes. Yuu catalogued that this person might be the most beautiful man that she’d seen, although she had yet to meet someone who _wasn’t_ beautiful in this Night Raven College. Unlike Crowley’s elegance, Ace’s mischievous boyish charm and Deuce’s serious handsomeness, this new arrival walked with poise, almost like a muggle runway model, and there was a coolly disinterested slant to his hooded eyes that spoke of confidence.

The man lifted one brow after scanning her up and down. “Headmaster Crowley…Isn’t this the ragged little puppy who caused trouble at the opening ceremony a few days ago?”

“That’s right, though I did tell you about him afterwards,” Crowley flipped his mantle, revealing the shine of three more mirrors hanging at his belt. “Yuu-kun! I would like you to meet the sciences professor here at Night Raven College, Divus Crewel.”

“Nice to meet you, Professor Crewel,” Yuu, whose manners had been drilled into her by her Japanese grandmother during one visit a few years ago, bent her head in greeting.

“I heard you were injured.” Crewel crossed his arms, fur rolling with the movement. He was clad in a great sleek coat, striped white-and-black all over, and she could see the handle of a wand—? No, it was a crop poking out of his belt. “As the head of the alchemy department, and because Crowley is too incompetent to hire a nurse, I am entrusted with injuries any students may suffer.”

“I’m not incompetent!” Crowley said shrilly. Crewel ignored him.

“It’s just bruising, really,” Yuu stared at Crowley, not having expected him to take her adventure yesterday so seriously.

“Nonsense!” Crewel snapped. Yuu sat at attention immediately. “You were attacked by an unidentified beast. You should be worrying about side-effects of magical creature attacks, foolish puppy!”

He was right. “Yessir,” Yuu answered, eyes wide.

“Well? Strip!” Crewel commanded. “Where are you injured?”

Despite not being very concerned with how her gender was perceived—and never having really made the distinction between being male and female here (or back at Hogwarts)—even Yuu felt hesitation at taking off her shirt in front of two adult men. Instead, she shucked her sweater-vest and shirt up to her ribs to show the bruising that had been hurting her for several hours.

Crewel’s glare zeroed in on the purple. There was an oppressive, chilly silence before he snatched up his crop and turned on Crowley. “You raven bastard.”

Crowley put both hands up. “I do deeply apologise!” He said quickly, sounding truly remorseful. “After all, who would have expected them to actually go to the Mines? Though Yuu-kun…aren’t you a little too thin?”

“That’s not it, you fool. Out.”

“I am the headmaster, you know,” Crowley started.

Crewel lifted his crop. A small red collar dangled from its handle, jingling with the movement. “ _Out!_ ”

Crowley shut the door behind them without a peep.

Yuu, who was still holding her clothing up to her ribs, blinked. “Um…is it okay to shout at the Headmaster like that?”

“Puppy! Put that shirt down right away.” Crewel pointed the crop at her.

Yuu was used to listening to professors with one or two personality quirks. In fact, she felt much more comfortable following McGonagall’s barked orders, Moody’s commands, than she did with the hesitant prodding of the new Potions professor whose name she kept forgetting. Crewel felt like the former, so without questioning him, she put her shirt and vest back down.

Crewel let out a long sigh, tapping the crop against his leg with a frown. He pulled over a chair and settled across it elegantly. “…Before I administer medicine for your bruise. Am I correct to assume that you came here not of your own volition?”

“Yessir,” Yuu tucked her shirt in. There was no reason to lie to him, and he seemed a lot more reliable than Crowley. “I woke up and I was here.”

“And the raven—Crowley put you up in that wreckage of a building,” Crewel’s voice fell half an octave. “And made you do menial labour?”

Yuu blinked. Why was he so angry? “Um, he actually let me stay here and even gave me food. Plus, yesterday I became an, er…Directing Student. Headmaster’s been really good to me, sir.”

“…” Crewel let out a long sigh, a line appearing between his brows. “Puppy…how much do you know about Night Raven College?”

“Um…nothing, pretty much. It’s a good school, I hear?” Yuu shrugged and winced a little. “I think it might be my only chance at finding a way back home.”

“A way back…”

“To my world,” explained Yuu. “Since I don’t come from this one.”

Crewel dropped his crop.

—

**CHAPTER THREE | The Feeling of Belonging.**

—

“Huh? Hey! It’s that kid from the opening ceremony! What was his name again? Oi~!”

Yuu, who was nibbling sleepily on toast in a corner of the cafeteria, wondered just what was in that disgusting medicine that Crewel had made her swallow. It had only been a couple of days, but all the bruising across her body was gone. She felt lighter than she had in weeks.

Crewel had told her with a rather harried expression that she should probably get out of here as fast as she could. Yuu agreed heartily, but this place was so interesting…

“Oiii! Can you hear me?”

The magic here was far more complicated than she’d imagined and drew heavily on physics and scientific theory. Indeed, magic behaved like a force separate from gravity, and the meaning of ‘being born’ with magic was more closely related to ‘being able to _use_ ’ magic. Yuu had been living almost exclusively in the library for the past few days, reading to Grim when he was awake and being teased by Ace for being a bookworm. But it was _so interesting…_

“Hey!” A pair of scarlet eyes popped up in front of her face. Yuu choked on her toast and nearly tipped a napping Grim off her shoulder.

“Whoa, sorry! Were you sleeping?” Kalim was all smiles as he slid into the seat beside her comfortably. When he moved, the scent of oudh drifted up her nose from a gold bangle on his wrist. “It’s been a while! Yuu, right? I thought you went home!”

“Good morning, Kalim-san,” Yuu managed to clear her airways with a cough. “Good to see you again. You sure are energetic so early.”

“Ha ha! Is that so! You sure seem out of it! Not a morning person?” Kalim set down a tray and laughed at her through a mouthful of what looked like naan filled with some fragrant meat. “So what’cha doing around here?”

“Oh right.” Yuu tilted her head so that Grim’s dozing form became visible to him. “Actually, I got admitted as a Directing Student together with Grim. So for the time being, I’ll be around.”

“No way!” Kalim’s eyes shone. “You sure are something, huh, kid? I never heard of a Directing Student or whatever it’s called, but you must’ve impressed Crowley. Anyway! Now we get to be schoolmates!”

Yuu shook her head, unable to resist grinning back. “Apparently, the Headmaster thinks I’ll be useful for something.” She explained the Ghost Camera to him and was subsequently cajoled into taking a selfie together. Still, Yuu had no idea if it worked, since the shutter clicked without any flashing. She shoved it back in her bag with a shrug.

“Huh? Wait, you don’t have a uniform!” Kalim gestured to his unbuttoned maroon vest and wrinkled white shirt underneath. Several metal bracelets rattled with the movement. “Didn’t you get put in a dorm yet?”

“Oh, I’m living in the Ramshackle Dorm in the grounds,” she explained, putting the camera away.

Kalim wrinkled his nose in confusion. “Whassat?”

“It’s an unused building. Since I’m not a magician I’m living there instead,” she explained. “That’s why I’m in my regular clothes.”

“Got’cha, got’cha.” Kalim nodded, the huge cashmere-looking robe draped over his shoulders sliding half-off his shoulder with the movement. “Well, I _am_ the leader of the Scarabia dorm, so feel free to ask me stuff you don’t get! You seem like an all right kid, even if you’re a bit thin!”

“Thanks,” Yuu said gratefully after swallowing a mouthful of milk. “It must be tough to be the leader. So what’s Scarabia dorm like?”

Kalim moved his hands emotively when he spoke, but his face was so expressive anyway that it intimidated her slightly. Today his earrings were curved in a twisting spiral and jingled with something magical when he shook his head. He was good at diving into personal space without being intrusive, making himself right at home beside her. Yuu, who had never had anyone be so overtly friendly towards her, immediately took a liking to him. It helped that he did most of the talking.

The Scarabia dormitory seemed to be located in a desert—wait, wasn’t it on campus?—and built on the back of a _ton_ of money. Judging by the material of Kalim’s robe, he was by no means poor. Breakfast passed quickly with the dorm head offering to take her on a tour of Scarabia as his ‘newest friend’. He also told her he was a second year, which made her apologize for being so familiar with him. Kalim laughed it off with a wave and told her that friends didn’t need formalities.

Yuu blinked. “I’m your friend?”

Kalim blinked back with a confused grin. “Yeah, obviously? Why, you didn’t think so?”

“Oh.” Yuu grinned up at him. “Um, I guess that makes you my first friend in this world, then, Kalim-senpai.”

“Really? Awesome!” Kalim’s eyes disappeared into a full-faced grin. “Hey Yuu! You’re a firstie, right?”

“Right,” Yuu nodded.

“Quick tip as your first friend!” Kalim winked at her. “Don’t sleep at the table in public places. ‘Specially with your position as a Directing Student or whatever. You never know who might be watching and waiting, ‘kay?”

“…!” Yuu widened her eyes, remembering how she’d been dozing a little while ago. “It’s dangerous to sleep here?”

“Well…” Kalim’s eyes went curiously blank as he glanced over her head. Then the smile was back. “This _is_ Night Raven College. Can’t be too careful, right?”

“Okay.” She saw no reason to doubt him. Yuu nodded solemnly, “I’ll be careful.”

“Good fellow!” Kalim ruffled her hair. “Man, I can’t believe you’re academy age, you’re so small and skinny. I should treat you to some of our food, you won’t believe how delicious it is. Like this chicken stuffed naan! Jamil’s a genius.”

“Chicken for breakfast?” Yuu blinked. “I didn’t see that on the menu.”

“I was in the mood,” Kalim said lightly.

In the mood…? Had he custom-ordered it or something? Yuu wondered.

A dark-haired, dark-skinned student approached their table, arms crossed. “Kalim.”

“Speak of the devil!” Kalim brightened up like the sun. “Hey, Jamil! Meet Yuu, he’s the new Directing Student! Yuu, this is Jamil Viper. He’s my vice dorm head!”

Yuu tilted her head at the new arrival in a greeting politely. “Good morning, Jamil…senpai? I’m Yuu. Nice to meet you.”

“So you’re the Directing Student we’ve heard about,” Jamil Viper’s voice was a calm baritone as he scanned her up and down. “Nice to meet you. Hopefully our Dorm Head hasn’t been causing too much trouble.”

“Hey, I was teaching him the ins and outs of Scarabia!” Kalim protested in good humour. “And it was Yuu who caused the trouble a couple days ago, you know.”

“Kalim, I told you to tell me before you ran off,” sighed Jamil, turning his exotically slanted eyes to the Dorm Head. He, too, had kohl smeared around the tops of his lashes, a darkish sienna that complemented the earthy tones of his skin well. In contrast to the bright woven fabric of Kalim’s uniform, he wore a dark red-and-black hoodie under his blazer that looked like it was straight out of a muggle Hot Topic store.

Kalim waved a hand. “Sorry, sorry! I saw Yuu here and couldn’t resist! How long before the warning bell?”

“Around five minutes.” Jamil didn’t miss a beat. He turned his gaze back to her, frowning. “What are you staring at me for?”

“How do you braid your hair like that?” Yuu wanted to know, staring at Jamil’s long glossy black hair pulled back from his head with three neat rows braided away from the right side. Gold shone from between the strands; Jamil was sporting feathers and tiny beads in his hair.

Jamil raised a brow at her. “Carefully,” was his clipped answer.

“Jamil’s real good with his hands!” bragged Kalim. “He can do _anything_.”

“As expected,” added Jamil dully.

It would’ve sounded prideful, but for some reason, Jamil just looked exhausted. Yuu frowned, catching an unnatural twist in the end of his sentence.

Kalim didn’t notice. “Jamil surpasses expectations all the time. Anyway, we should probably get going to the second-year classrooms. Catch ya later, Yuu!”

“Bye,” she waved as the two of them stood. “Kalim-senpai, Jamil-senpai. Nice meeting you.”

Jamil dipped a nod at her before he took Kalim’s tray from under him and followed the white-haired boy from the cafeteria.

“His hair was really pretty,” she remarked to herself. Both Kalim and Jamil followed the example of every NRC student she’d met so far—unusually good-looking. Especially Jamil, whose beauty outshone that of almost everyone save for the tall blond at the entrance ceremony. She kind of wanted to try braiding her own hair the same way as he, though it had been cut to her chin (now reached her neck) and was always tied back into a knot so she didn’t find it bothersome when reading. Probably not practical.

“Heh? What? Is it already morning?” mumbled Grim, rubbing his eyes as the warning bell rang. He sniffed. “What did you eat this morning? There are spices everywhere!”

“Oh, nothing special,” Yuu hid a smile as she pushed herself to her feet. “Just made a new friend.”

—

The first years’ classes were split into two overarching subjects—humanities and sciences—plus outdoor training, mostly in Flight magic. Yuu hadn’t noticed, but later Deuce told her with a scowl that she had been on the receiving end of some rather negative attention when she sat on the side during the first Flight class.

Usually the first years gathered in the classroom and studied magic history during the morning hours, broke for lunch, and studied alchemy—also called Potions—in the afternoon with Crewel, who Yuu was getting the feeling didn’t like her very much. He kept glaring in her direction between barks of “ _Bad boy!_ ” and “ _Stay!_ ”. Otherwise, flight classes were sprinkled on odd days and confused the schedule out of its usual pattern. It was easier to just look at the day-to-day schedule Ace and Deuce carried with them.

The first day of class was, of course, met with Grim running off in the middle of history classes because he didn’t want to memorise boring dates. Yuu had sighed and traded her lunch with Ace and Deuce in return for their help in catching him. She’d never seen Deuce make such an evil face as when he asked her what she’d give him in return for his help. This kid was just as messed up as Ace, Yuu had thought rather admiringly.

She learned that day that Ace and Deuce worked together like the best of partners when they were terrorizing other students. Unfortunately, Yuu was on the receiving end. She gave Grim a good noogie for bringing down calamity on her head.

A couple of weeks of classes passed by in a whirlwind of action. Yuu was far too busy to pay attention to anything outside of classes except for dragging Grim out of trouble—and boy, did he get into trouble—so she lost track of the passage of time even more completely than usual.

Before she knew it, the third week of classes had already dawned on Night Raven College, and Yuu had finally scraped up an understanding of most of what the history professor—a stately older man called Mozus Trein who carried his cat with him—taught daily. However, the Flight classes were impossible. Probably would be for the rest of her life. Yuu had gone under some questionable methods learning how to ride her Yajirushi and never wanted to use another broom, ever, unless the alternative was dying.

Just like she was getting used to doing, Yuu plodded into the first-years’ classroom and shuffled into the bench next to Deuce, who had his pen case and notes out already. “Mornin’ Deuce.”

“Yuu!” Deuce’s aquamarine eyes brightened in a smile. “You look as sleepy as usual.”

“I stayed up late reading.” She yawned, glancing down at her desk, and grimaced. “Wow, you can’t even see the wood anymore.”

Ace whistled as he slid in on her other side. “Damn, haven’t seen someone get bullied this obviously, ever. What’d you do, kill their parents?”

Yuu rolled her eyes and swung her book bag down to withdraw a bottle of alcohol wipes she’d begged from Crowley a few days ago. “That’d be way too much trouble. I don’t even know anyone here.”

Deuce sighed. “I still don’t see why you don’t get back at them,” he said in frustration.

“Says the guy who keeps saying that personal fighting is prohibited in school grounds,” Ace parroted back.

“Yeah, _personal_ fighting.” A wicked grin twisted up Deuce’s face. “Getting back at a bunch of cowardly punks isn’t necessarily fighting.”

“What’s with that great smile,” Ace grinned excitedly, leaning over her, “what, got any ideas?”

Yuu rubbed at the graffiti covering her desk and was relieved when it came off easily. She shrugged as she worked. “Hey, at least they didn’t come up to me and punch me in the face yet. Or dunk me in a river and hold my head under. Or throw my book bag into mud. Stop looking evil, you two.”

She’d been on the receiving end of some nasty pranks during her first and fourth year at Hogwarts, so all of the above were things she’d gone through personally. Compared to that, being whispered about in the hallways and ostracized in the lunchroom was rather insignificant. Sure, at Hogwarts most people (save the bullies) didn’t know she existed and NRC’s students universally disliked her, but no one here had been stupid enough to pick a full-frontal fight with her…yet.

When she looked up, Ace and Deuce were staring at her with unreadable expressions. Yuu blinked. “What?”

Ace traded glances with Deuce over her head. “Oh, nothing,” he said cheerfully. “Anyway, let’s go check out the new menu together at lunch. You get free food from Crowley, right? Pile on a double helping of dessert and share some with us. I heard it’s real good this time!”

“Sure, sounds good.” Yuu grinned back, passing him the soiled alcohol wipe. Ace obligingly sent it across the room into the garbage bin with a flick of his Magical Pen.

She poked at the fuzzy creature nestled into her neck. “Grim. Grim, wake up, class is gonna start soon.”

“Ugh…” Grim yawned. “It’s your fault you kept me up so late last night doing homework. I need fifteen hours of sleep a day, you know!”

“I thought you said you weren’t a cat?” Deuce muttered.

As Grim settled onto her recently cleansed desk, blowing a raspberry at Deuce, Ace frowned and whispered in her ear, “The furball’s gonna find out his ‘henchman’ is being bullied eventually.”

Yuu took out the notebook Crowley had provided for her, whispering back, “No he’s not.”

“I’ll give you that you’re good at hiding this stuff, but it hasn’t stopped for almost a month,” Ace didn’t let up. His orange brows were furrowed down in a serious scowl. “Shouldn’t you ask a teacher for help? Or at least plan something to get back at them? You’re gonna get hurt.”

“Class is starting,” Professor Trein marched in the room, his cat perched grumpily on one outstretched arm. Ace sighed and gave her a glance that read ‘later’.

Yuu refrained from telling him that she was probably the hardest person to hurt at this entire school. Not only was she being kept here by the Headmaster himself—which scared most of the NRC residents off from any overt acts of bullying—but her Charm work was nothing to scoff at. No one had even managed to get into her windows since she’d set up some simple wards and protective Charms. She didn’t know if it was from lack of trying, though; Yuu had slept like a rock these past several weeks. Maybe the Ghosts were deterrent enough to scare any students off when they neared.

Ace and Deuce were her second set of friends made at the College. Despite Ace’s tendency to tease her and Grim, or because of it, he tended to stick around her more often than not. On the other hand, she appeared to have won Deuce’s loyalty after taking a hit for him during their adventure in the Dwarf Mines. Being the taller of the two of them—and the nicer—Deuce would plunk himself on her right during lunch and glare ferociously at the people whispering about her while Ace made fun of them rather mean-spiritedly. She’d had to stop Deuce from punching one of the cat-eared classmates when he made a rather unkind comment about her stature. After he’d said no personal fighting, too. Yuu had noted with exasperated fondness how Deuce was a little too quick to action. In Ace’s words, ‘an idiot’.

They hadn’t said they were her friends—but unlike with Kalim, Yuu didn’t need them to say it. She felt at home with Ace and Deuce in a way that she had never felt with anyone before. Perhaps it was because they didn’t hold anything back, didn’t try to be ‘nice’ or ‘polite’ or ‘normal’ to her. Ace had one of the most warped personalities she’d ever seen and Deuce was, although generally kind enough, prone to snapping and slightly _off_ in a way she couldn’t pinpoint. They also both liked to hold things above her head and make her jump for it like delinquents.

Yuu didn’t know what to make of it. Yet she was far to starstruck, far too enamoured with this new world to dwell much on the startling fact that she spent almost the entire day with the two of them (plus Grim) yet never felt the need to be by herself. For the highly asocial Yuu, this was a miracle, if she had stopped to consider it.

The other half of the day was spent with Grim. Despite his rather arrogant personality (as Crowley said, hardly a rare trait in this school), Grim was small and cute and Yuu loved animals, Care of Magical Creatures, whatever she wanted to call it. She and Grim stuck to each other like two halves of a whole, sometimes arguing, sometimes laughing, and most of the time bent over homework they couldn’t understand. Grim knew much more than her about this world’s magic, but he was hardly first place material.

Ever since she’d arrived in this world, Yuu had developed a bad habit of seeking physical contact. Since she’d woken up all alone in the coffin, she had not been able to calm down until Crowley closed his gloved fingers around her wrist, although she did not recognize her panic at the time. After the episode in Ramshackle Dorm, she’d only been able to sleep as well as she had because Grim was warm on her pillow. And the traumatic next day would have probably destroyed her mentally if she had not clung on to Deuce and Ace the whole time they were away from school.

Even now—Yuu made sure to be attached to Grim all the time. Whether he was curled around her neck, sat on her lap, lending her a furry paw to hold, purring on her stomach…they were in contact at almost all times of the day. Sometimes, Yuu would wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat only to find that Grim had rolled away from her.

Yuu catalogued this unhealthy trend within her coolly, had noticed that she was not as okay as she seemed travelling worlds—but with the aplomb of a teenager, she didn’t consider it important enough to speak to a professor about. Instead, the only worry that was pushing at her mind was the issue of money.

Madols were the form of currency in Twisted Wonderland (she guessed it was short for ‘magic dollars’), and to her eternal confusion, one Madol was roughly equal to one Japanese yen, or one one-hundred-and-thirtieth of a British pound. Yuu, who had been born in England, but was familiar with her mother’s Japanese family during visits, and was an exchange student last year, didn’t find it anything more than a little strange, but all the same—she had no money.

The shoeless issue—which Ace and Deuce brought up incessantly—was solved, surprisingly, by the Flight magic instructor Ashton Vargas. Although he was as much of a narcissist concerning his muscles as she had ever seen, Vargas had taken one look at her and told her he would have shoes for her by the next day. And he did—striding into the humanities classroom early next morning and scaring Ace and Deuce comically into drawing their Pens, he had passed her a bag containing an unbelievably soft pair of black leather dress shoes that fit her small feet perfectly. Vargas was, needless to say, Yuu’s favourite instructor. Unfortunately, she still hated his classes.

Still, having no pocket money was a problem. Crowley had provided immediate needs: a cauldron, textbooks and notebooks, pens, a book bag. But she only had one set of clothing and the pyjamas she’d found within Ramshackle Dorm. Yuu would have been fine magicking her clothing clean daily, but it would attract undue attention not to have more than one set. Plus, what Kalim had said about the uniform made her desirous of one.

Mostly, she was a little tired of fishing her possessions from the school’s well. It was better than having them tossed out of school grounds, because no one could leave without permission, but Drying Charms only did so much and it was getting hard to read her textbooks and notes when the ink ran. She had refrained from charming her things not to get wet because it would raise suspicion, but…

“I need a job,” Yuu decided to herself as she waved Ace off after school. He had been muttering about a match and how he was going to join some sports team all day. Deuce had long since left for a reason he refused to disclose. She had the sneaking suspicion he didn’t want to tell Ace he was also trying out for a team until he made it.

Grim, who was muttering the list of ingredients needed for that day’s alchemic experiment, paused. “What?”

“I need a job,” she repeated.

“Why?” Grim looked absolutely flummoxed, peering up at her with those great big glassy eyes. “I think you should be trying to pull up your flying lessons marks, not wasting time doing something as useless as that.”

“Ugh. Well…yeah.” Yuu winced. “But I wanna buy at least a school uniform.” And underwear. Did they sell clothing around here? Maybe she’d have to transfigure something. It was just bad luck that the day she’d left home she’d been wearing a vest-like structure to flatten and protect her chest, a leftover habit from her summer before fourth year travelling across dragon-rich countries. Now she was stuck wearing it the whole time in lieu of a brassiere and it was getting rather hard to breathe recently. Had she gained weight?

“Hmm? Why don’t you just ask Crowley for stuff you want?” Grim cocked his head. “Well, whatever. C’mon, you said you’d get me some tuna cans from him today! That guy keeps avoiding us!”

“All right, all right.” Yuu sighed. She really needed a job, if just to fund Grim’s unreasonable addiction to canned fish. Crowley kept running away whenever they saw him, and the cute little Monster was beginning to lose the last of his short temper.

—

Yuu was curled up by the fireplace, Grim stretched around her shoulders like a furry scarf. Her nose was buried deep in _A Detailed Look into the Queen’s Reign_ with a lamp on the coffee table brightening the room when a storm of knocking dislodged a cloud of dust from the ceiling.

Grim fell off her shoulders onto the couch with a start and a yelp. Yuu Banished the dust, coughing, before calling out “one second!”

She had been close to dozing, the unfamiliar scene of a blonde girl walking through a labyrinth of roses dripping with scarlet paint fresh in her mind. Shaking the strange picture out of her head, she padded over to the door and pushed it open. “Hello?”

“It’s me,” Ace said grumpily. He shoved his way past her, nearly stamping into the foyer.

“Whoa, one sec,” Yuu caught him around the waist. “The floorboards are really weak so I’ll guide you. Also, shoes off.”

“All right, _mother_ ,” Ace spat, kicking his shoes off rather violently.

“You all right?” Yuu peered up into his face in concern, squeezing his hand. Then she froze. “Wait—why do you have that huge collar around your neck?”

His ire seemingly alleviated by her honest shock, Ace sighed and swung their hands back and forth impatiently, long since used to her need for physical contact. The firelight gleamed off of the metal lock hanging around his neck. “That’s exactly why I’m here. Hey, Yuu. Can I stay over tonight?”

“Sure.” Yuu said without hesitation as Grim approached them. “C’mon in. I can at least make you some tea. Grim filched a tin from the Headmaster’s office instead of a tuna can by accident.”

“What a useless trip that was,” Grim grumbled, leaping up onto her shoulder. “Oi, Ace, watch out. The board in front of you probably can’t take your weight.”

“What kind of garbage place did he shove you in?” Ace hopped carefully over the floorboards as Yuu made her way across the lounge into the half-collapsed kitchen to boil water. “I can’t believe you _live_ here.”

“I don’t really care as long as it’s sort of clean and I can sleep,” Yuu called back.

Ace had made himself at home on the couch and was muttering fiercely at the fire by the time he’d come back. Grim had curled up on the table, half dozing. Yuu had learned that he could sleep anywhere.

“Thanks for waiting.” She passed him a warm mug. “We can go find a pair of leftover pyjamas later. I washed them, but they’re gonna be old.”

“Don’t care.” Ace waved her off, his glare smoothing over slightly as he took a draw without checking the temperature. “Like hell I’m going back to Heartslabyul. Hey, Yuu. I’m joining Ramshackle dorm starting today, just so you know.”

Yuu raised both brows and plopped down beside him. “What are you on about? Also, I think I’ve seen that metal…what is that?”

“Like hell if I know.” Ace muttered moodily, tugging at the curve of metal binding his neck. When she looked closer, one half of red and one half of black made up a heart-shaped collar from which a padlock hung.

“Grim got hit by it at the opening ceremony,” she remembered. “Something about sealing magic?”

“Yeah, exactly!” exploded Ace. “With this thing on I can’t do _anything_ around here!”

“What’d you do?” she gave him a flat stare.

“I ate a tart.”

“…” Yuu squinted. “You what?”

“I _ate_ a frickin’ _tart_ , okay?” Ace burst out. Grim started awake.

“Wow, sorry I asked.”

“I want a tart,” Grim remarked.

Yuu arched a brow at Ace, scratching Grim behind the ears. “I think you might want to explain the details.”

Ace obliged. The series of events had happened not even an hour ago. He’d gone back from his basketball team try-outs—which were rather successful, if his proud smirk said anything—to an empty lounge, exhausted and hungry.

“So you opened the fridge and found a tart?” Yuu finished, surprised that basketball existed in this world.

“There were _three whole_ tarts in there!” Ace was quick to add. “I was so hungry I figured one couldn’t hurt.”

“Okay.” Didn’t seem like a huge deal. “And then?”

“The Dorm Head found me.” Ace lost his momentum and sagged on the couch, nursing his tea sulkily.

“Dorm Head…?” repeated Yuu. “…The scary redhead from the ceremony?”

“That guy who nearly killed me with that collar!” Grim recalled, clutching his neck protectively.

“He spouted something about a rule where no one could touch his food and then bam! Uses his stupid _Off with Your Head_ on me!” Ace sulked. “And that’s it.”

Grim stared at Ace.

Yuu stared at Ace.

Ace glared back. “What!?”

“Both of you are idiots,” Grim concluded, curled up, and went to sleep.

“What did you say, you furball?” Ace growled, shoving himself to his feet.

“Calm down, calm down,” Yuu tugged him back into a sitting position. “Um, honestly I agree that it wasn’t such a big deal, but uh…that redhead is scary.”

“He’s insane!” Ace gulped his tea.

“If you knew your Head Boy—um, Dorm Head was that scary, why would you risk offending him?” she pointed out. “I thought you were smart.”

“I was frickin’ _hungry_ , dammit!” Ace whined. “But getting my magic sealed for that is way too unfair! It’s like…being put in chains for a magician!”

“Well, you said there were three whole tarts, right?” Yuu recalled.

“As if he could eat them all himself! How selfish do you get!?” Ace was still complaining.

“But what if it wasn’t for himself?” Yuu said thoughtfully. “He might have been hosting a party or something. Or handing it out to the residents of the dorm.”

“Nope nope nope. Dorm Head would _never_ do something like that,” Ace shook his head several times. “Well I don’t know the guy…pretty much at all, since we haven’t been in ’Labyul much the past few weeks…”

“You know you could’ve just apologized and asked him to take it off,” Yuu suggested.

“Like hell!” Ace said angrily.

“Ace…you don’t feel sorry at all, do you?”

“Having three tarts sitting in the fridge is just _asking_ for someone to eat them,” Ace told her stubbornly. “Hey Yuu. I thought you were my buddy!”

“I am your buddy.” Yuu rolled her eyes. “I’m letting you stay over, aren’t I? But Ace, your buddy suggests that you don’t throw away Heartslabyul over a petty thing like this. You have a place where you belong, full of other people who are your fellow students. Ramshackle Dorm is, well…”

“A dump?” Ace put in dryly.

“That,” Yuu answered with a grin. “Even if your Dorm Head is scary as heck, I’ve learned how crazy people and Grims get when they don’t get their food.”

“Oh yeah! Deuce said he saw the two of you chasing the Headmaster all over the second floor again. Canned tuna?”

“Exactly.” Yuu rolled her eyes. “Heartslabyul has food in the fridge, at least. We don’t even have a fridge here. It’s a miracle that hot water works…sometimes.”

Ace drained his tea and gave her a look of pity. “Man…that Headmaster isn’t ‘nice’ at all with the way you’re living.”

“Can’t complain since I’m getting it for free.” She shrugged. “So, Ace. My strategy for getting out of this with the least casualties is for you to just apologize and get the thing taken off. Then, if you really wanna get back at the Dorm Head, we can think of a plan. How’s that?”

He puffed out his cheeks. “I don’t wanna.”

Yuu was tempted to abandon him on the couch, but that pouting expression made an unexpected swell of affection rise up in her chest. She sighed helplessly. “All right, all right. I’ll come with you to try and convince him. How about that?”

Ace lost the pout and looked back at her in surprise. “You’d do that?”

“Yeah. We’re buddies, right?”

“…Fine. Fine! All right! We’ll go tomorrow morning!” Ace threw up his hands. “You win again, Yuu. Why you gotta be so…”

“So…?” Yuu repeated, confused.

“…Never mind.” Ace reached forwards and messed up her hair. “By the way, what you said about ’Labyul being a place I belong…you’re wrong. That place isn’t anything as fairy-tale as that.”

“What do you mean?”

Ace grinned at her. “Ramshackle dorm is better. Even if you guys have no fridge.”

—

Yuu jerked upright at a loud persistent banging at the door the next morning. Beside her, Ace groaned and shoved his face under her pillow, dislodging Grim, who didn’t even notice.

“Five more minutes,” Ace said irritably.

“It’s not me, it’s the door,” Yuu yawned, rubbing her eyes. “I’ll be right back.”

The banging persisted as she changed out of her nightgown in the washroom and shook the hallways, nearly sending her flying down the stairs. Yuu hurried to the door. “Calm down!” she shouted past the dislodged dust, “I’m coming already!”

“Ace, you—” Deuce’s hand paused mid-knock as she swung the door open. “Yuu! Have you seen that moron? Also your hair’s a mess.”

“Morning, Deuce. Ace stayed over last night.” Yuu stepped aside, not particularly surprised that their friend would be the one to show up. “C’mon in, but be careful, that floorboard is no good.”

“You _live_ here!?” Deuce hovered in the foyer, looking aghast. It quickly transformed into anger and he clenched a fist, growling. “That Headmaster! How can he—!”

“God, are you loud,” Ace stumbled downstairs, his vest buttoned up the wrong way and his hair an even bigger mess than it usually was. The collar locked around his neck gleamed. “This place is fragile so if you keep pounding on the door like a moron it might just collapse.”

“Ace…so it was you who caused Yuu more trouble yesterday,” Deuce sighed, lifting a sardonic brow. “By the way, how dumb do you have to be to get caught sneaking food? And the Dorm Head’s food? Are you asking for it?”

“You’re the _only_ person who I don’t wanna hear that from, you moron,” snorted Ace. “Yuu, your hair’s sticking up in the back.”

“Yuu’s hair is longer than I thought,” Deuce watched her run her fingers through it before pulling it back in a knot. “Must be hard to take care of.”

“Girly as hell,” Ace nodded.

“Oh shut it, explosion head, your vest’s all wrong,” she retorted, hopping over to him to rebutton it properly.

“Was the Dorm Head still pissed this morning?” Ace asked Deuce, staying still for her to get the buttons through the buttonholes with a long-suffering air.

“Not really. He just seemed a little irritated. Put around four kids who overslept a bit in collars like you.”

Yuu winced. Ace spluttered, “That’s what you call _not really_ pissed?!”

“Anyway, looks like we should go and apologize early,” Yuu sighed, patting Ace as she finished, “after we wash up.”

Main Street was lit warmly by the early morning glow of a cloudless sky. Yuu walked beside Deuce sedately while ahead of them, Grim teased Ace mercilessly about being unable to use magic for the time being. Deuce jerked a thumb at them and muttered to her, “How did you live under the same roof as those two idiots?”, sending her into a round of giggles. Mostly because Deuce was the one who had hurled Ace into a chandelier without a single moment of hesitation.

As they walked, the dark-haired student explained to her that the building containing the Hall of Mirrors was the designated spot for students to travel to their dorms. Because there were seven dorms, seven Mirrors had been set up to link to each dorm.

Yuu paled. “Wait, we’re going through a mirror _again_?”

“Don’t worry,” Ace called back with his sneering grin. “I’ll hold your little hand if you get scared.”

She had never been so relieved to live in the Ramshackle Dorm, which was not linked to a mirror. The twenty minutes of walking to get to the castle seemed like nothing compared to that dreadful room full of the dreadful travelling devices.

Unfortunately, Yuu had already given her word to apologise together with Ace, so once again she became attached to Deuce, physically, as they approached the hall full of alcoves. (Deuce was the tallest one out of all of them by a narrow margin and also the most solidly built by a wider one.) The three of them, Grim settled in her hair, approached the one with Heartslabyul’s crest engraved above the purple alcove, where an ovular mirror was engraved in the wall of rough rock.

Curious about this new dorm, but unwilling to open her eyes, Yuu clung to Deuce desperately as they passed through the mirror into a field of light. When she cracked them back open, the vibrant greenery made her and Grim both gape in shock.

“Wow,” breathed Yuu, slowly turning to take in the lush green shrubbery. Behind her, the ovular mirror leading to Heartslabyul Dorm glowed briefly, light illuminating the steel-wrought roses adorning its crest, before the brilliance faded.

Heartslabyul Dorm was a castle all by itself. The four of them stood at the entrance to a courtyard, on a wide street lined on either side with electric lamps and rosebushes, a labyrinth of green shrubbery stretching out from both sides of the street into obscurity. But Yuu and Grim were both enchanted by the scarlet castle standing proudly beyond a burbling stone fountain—rising up into the distance, its white-sanded parapets and huge carved-out heart-shaped entrance stole her own immediately. Unbidden, a picture of a blonde-haired girl in a blue frock dress passed through her mind.

“Wow!” Yuu repeated, gaining momentum, as Grim’s tail whipped at her neck in excitement. “You guys get to live _here_? This looks straight out of a movie! It’s beautiful!”

“Really? The heart theme isn’t manly at all.” Ace wrinkled his nose, looking less than impressed. He nudged her. “Hey, Yuu, if you like it so much, you wanna come move here?”

“Not a bad idea for you; nothing’s worse than that shack,” Deuce put a hand on his chin in thought. “Might as well ask later…”

“Huh? I can’t come here, I have no magic,” Yuu said frankly.

“Aw, come on. It’s just a technicality.” Ace protested. “We can transfer you in somehow.”

Ace and Deuce led her through the quaint patterned cobblestone path into the maze of rosebushes. Yuu nearly asked why they weren’t going straight, but realized the courtyard ended far before the castle, separated by a bed of grass, and followed behind them obediently, chatting with Grim about the benefits of moving dorms.

Halfway through the rose labyrinth, Yuu yelped and leapt backwards, bumping into Deuce. “Is that _blood_ on the ground!?”

“It’s just paint, you scaredy-cat.” Ace rolled his eyes. “We’ve gotten used to it. Can’t you smell it?”

“Um, you’re talking like I’m crazy, but why is there red paint everywhere, Mister Ace?” Yuu shot back.

“Not good, not good. Gotta hurry and paint the roses red.” A tall student jogged past them. His chin-length orange hair flapped as he snatched a brush from off the ground where it had been soaking in a red puddle. “If I leave one half-painted my head’s gonna fly.”

“Hey, someone’s here!” Grim leapt from her shoulders to chase after him.

“Your brother?” Yuu asked Ace.

“Why?!” Ace spluttered. “His hair’s way more orange than mine. Mine’s brown!”

“Okay,” she said doubtfully. Brown was hardly the colour she would use to describe the fiery vibrance of Ace’s messy hair, but it was true that the stranger’s hazel-green eyes were curved down in a friendly way that didn’t match the sharp catlike slant of Ace’s. Not related, then.

Grim returned with the orange-haired student. “Did you guys need me for something?” said the new arrival with an easy smile. A small red diamond was painted on his right cheekbone.

“What are you doing?” Ace looked at the dripping paintbrush sceptically.

“Oh, this? I’m just painting the roses,” he answered.

Ace made a face, but didn’t seem too surprised.

“Yeah, I see them doing this all the time,” Deuce nodded seriously, “only I still don’t know the reason. It’s the rules, so no one asks.”

“Wait, painting the _roses_?” Yuu gaped. Sprout would have a heart attack. “Um, if that’s just regular red paint, you know it’ll damage the plants, right?”

“The three of you are freshies, aren’t you?” the student pointed his brush at them with a grin, ignoring her. Then his eyes lit up with remembrance. “Wait a sec, aren’t you the three musketeers that smashed the hundred-million Madol chandelier and nearly got expelled? Actually, how did you get around getting expelled?”

Ace sighed. “No one’s ever gonna let that go, are they.”

“The other day someone called me a chandelier bastard,” Yuu piped up, distracted. “I meant to tell you guys. I actually nearly collapsed laughing.”

“Chandelier—” Deuce bent over snickering.

“—bastard,” gasped Ace over Grim’s sniggers. “Are they even trying?”

“And you,” the student winked in Ace’s direction, “are the kid who ate Dorm Head’s tart without permission and got Off with Your Head-ed!”

Ace stopped laughing and put his face in his hands with a long-suffering groan. It seemed as if the news had spread quickly.

“Man, I’m pretty lucky to get to meet the newcomers that are the talk of the school!” the student flung the paintbrush back in the puddle of paint—Grim squawked and leapt onto her shoulders—and leaned in conspiratorially. “Hey hey hey you three. Take a photo with me. C’mon!”

Yuu yelped as he pulled her in, whipping out his smartphone, and snapped a selfie of the five of them huddled together. For good measure, he took another one and leaned back, satisfied.

“Hey, can I upload this to MagiCam?” the student waved his smartphone at them. Yuu followed the movement of his hand, wondering how smartphones and magic worked together, and also what the hell was with that weird phone case with diamonds all over it?

She echoed, “MagiCam?”

“Yeah! Tell me your name so I can tag you.”

Deuce blinked, still confused, but responded right away, “My name is Deuce Spade.”

“Ace,” muttered Ace, staring suspiciously at the smartphone.

“I’m Grim!” Grim stood on her shoulder proudly and tugged at a bang. “This is my henchman Yuu!”

“Um, nice to meet you?” Yuu said hesitantly. Was MagiCam some form of magical Instxgram? “What’s your name?”

“And upped.” The student grinned, shoving his phone into a pocket, and snatched her hand in a shake. “Nice to meet’cha! I’m Deuce-chan’s and Ace-chan’s upperclassman! My name is Cater Diamond, third year. You’re the rumoured Directing Student, Yuu, huh? You’re tiny!”

“Everyone says the same thing when they meet me,” Yuu monotoned, shaking his hand. “Nice to meet you, Cater-senpai.”

“Just call me Cater-kun! Cay-kun is fine too!” he winked at her.

“Nice to meet you, Cater-senpai,” she repeated.

“Ah ha ha! This kid’s cute! Hey, Yuu-chan, what’cha doing in ’Labyul so early in the morning?” Cater seemed unbothered by her refusal. His grey eyes twinkled with mirth.

“Well you see, this guy over here…”

“So!” Ace cut across her loudly, “Why are you painting the roses anyway, Cater-senpai?”

“Me? There’s gonna be a party the day after tomorrow,” Cater explained, the paintbrush flying back into his hands with a swish of his Pen. “Gotta finish all the painting before then. So I have no time to lose!”

“A party…” Yuu raised her brows and exchanged glances with Ace and Deuce.

“What does a _party_ have to do with the roses?” Ace said dumbly.

“I me~an, red roses are photogenic! White roses don’t look so good in pictures, you know? My followers will cry!” Cater’s grin didn’t waver. “Plus after this I gotta add colour to all the flamingos for the croquet tourney they’re holding during the party. No time to lose!”

Ace and Deuce gaped and harmonized, “The what?”

The latter cleared his throat, regaining his composure. “Don’t tell me that’s the party that the Dorm Head made the cakes for? So it was his birthday in two days…No wonder he was so mad.”

Grim mumbled, “Flamingos? What? Croquet?” Yuu petted him absently.

“No? You got it wrong,” Cater responded to Deuce lightly.

“See!” Ace burst out. “Wait. Then whose birthday was it?”

“Why d’you guys think it’s a birthday?” Cater shot back. “The day after tomorrow is the first of our dorm’s traditional Unbirthday congratulation parties, that’s all. When it’s no one’s birthday and our Dorm Head is in the mood, it gets held randomly. There’s tea and sweets!”

“What the heck is that!?” Ace spluttered.

“More weird rules,” Deuce mumbled despondently.

“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” Yuu muttered to herself, finally remembering the dream she’d had of Alice wandering through the Rose Maze. The Queen of Hearts Statue—the Unbirthdays—the tea parties. She hadn’t known there was a Dixney movie, had only read the Lewis Carrol work when she was very young. Still, she was sure the image of the girl she’d dreamed of was Alice.

Yuu’s mind worked furiously. They’d called this world ‘Twisted Wonderland’.

But Alice in Wonderland had no magic she could remember—in the first place, wasn’t it written on a particularly strong acid trip? The residents themselves were…not exactly magical, but not _non_ -magical either. What with the caterpillar that smoked, the Cheshire cat…

What was going on?

“Anyway, who cares about the reason! I’m behind schedule, so would my cute dorm-mates help me out here? Deuce-chan and Gri-chan can use magic, and poor Ace-chan and Yuu-chan can use a brush!” Cate pushed the brush into her hands.

Yuu came out of her thoughts blankly. “Paint the roses? But they’ll die.”

“Don’t worry! The roses won’t die that easily. We’ve done this before, and Cay-kun guarantees the roses will be fine!” he winked at her. “If we don’t hurry, classes are gonna start, you know?”

—

“…Phew.” Cater lowered his Pen. “That’s half of them done!”

“Aaah I wish I could use magic!” Ace threw down his paintbrush. “This is taking way too long!”

“I think I got the hang of it!” Deuce, on the other hand, looked rather proud of himself. “Grim keeps turning the roses green and pink and blue, so fixing his mistakes actually made me better at the spell.”

“Funaaa! It was _once_!” Grim insisted. His spell went awry and set the next rose on fire. “AAAH! It’s burning!”

“Wha—!?” Deuce lost his concentration and transformed his next rose blue. “Oh shi—! Put that out!”

“You guys are such…interesting…underclassmen,” Cater wiped a tear from his eye, “Senpai can’t believe it. Time’s a-wasting, so let’s keep going. Let’s see, where should we paint next…”

Yuu tapped Cater on the shoulder. “Senpai?”

“Hmm? What’s up, Yuu-chan? Did you have a question?”

“Yeah.” Yuu put her paintbrush in an empty can of red paint. “What should we do once we’re done?”

“Done? Well, that’s all I had to do this…wait. Done?” Cater blinked several times and then turned around.

“…Done?” Grim echoed, turning around. “ _Funya_!? Yuu, you painted _all of those_?”

“I was a member of the fine arts club,” Yuu shrugged. She evaded mentioning she had Charmed the rest of the paintbrushes to paint at the same time as her. “So I’m used to painting stuff. What do I do next?”

“Yuu…” Deuce looked touched. “You’re so hardworking…!”

“For a magicless dude, he’s kinda scary,” Ace said, sweating.

“You’re just sulking ‘cause you can’t use it right now,” she shot back.

Cate started laughing. “I didn’t expect you to be so diligent! Hey, hey, Yuu-chan. You live in that nasty Ramshackle Dorm, right? Don’t tell me Headmaster made you clean it?”

“Come to think of it, it was pretty nice inside other than all the dust…and the floorboards,” Ace commented. “Plus the bed was really clean.”

“I mean, who else was going to clean it?” Yuu asked rhetorically.

“You’re even more diligent than my sisters…” Cater wiped another imaginary tear from his eye. “So you’re saying it might be possible for me to snap a couple pictures of your dorm, Yuu-chan? Ah, of course, for my MagiCam followers.”

“I mean, I guess I don’t mind?” Yuu wondered what the big deal was. Couldn’t they do the same thing with their magic? And Ramshackle was hardly a tourist spot.

“Awesome~! Just tell me when and I’ll drop by. Oh wait! I should get your phone number…”

“Ah…I don’t have a phone,” she said sheepishly. “I got sent here from another world by mistake, so I didn’t bring anything with me.”

Cater’s smile froze on his face. “…Sorry?”

Ace sighed. “So why did the roses have to be red?” he questioned. Yuu sent him a grateful look—she shouldn’t have mentioned that so casually. “White looks good too, doesn’t it?”

“It’s the rules,” Cater came back to himself and recited, “The roses have to be red. For croquet, the bat used has to be one of the seven-coloured flamingos. The ball has to be a hedgehog. Ah, but the flower concerts in the spring garden have an exception where the roses have to be white. It’s an important distinction!”

Grim put into words their thoughts: “What’s with all those arbitrary rules?”

“We have to follow these rules every single day, you know,” Deuce muttered, “it’s easier to just shut up and do it.”

“C’mon, don’t you want to know the reason?” Ace nudged him. “Mister Pink Leopard-print.”

“I told you to stop mentioning that!”

Yuu gave both of them a wide-eyed look. Ace muttered ‘later’ with a wicked grin; Deuce groaned and buried his head in his gloves.

“Legend has it that one of the Seven Greats, The Queen of Hearts, came up with all the rules,” Cater lifted a finger to explain as the three of them exchanged glances. “Riddle-kun is a stickler to match the best of them in the history of the school. He’s a pretty serious kid, you know.”

Yuu looked around at the red roses and wondered if this Riddle person was all right. The last time she’d heard about someone with the name Riddle was from James’ father who had then personally killed him. It would be cruel irony if a second Voldemort was born in this world, too.

“That’s right!” Ace gasped. “I don’t have time to be doing this. Hey senpai, do you know where I can find the Dorm Head? I need to talk to him.”

“Hm? Yeah, I suppose at this time he’s still in the dorm,” Cater nodded. His smile deepened mischievously. “By the way, I-Stole-the-Tart Ace-chan. Did you bring an apology tart?”

“Apology tart?” Ace repeated dumbly. “I came straight from Ramshackle, so I’ve got nothing on me…”

Cater hissed sympathetically. “You know that that violates the Fifty-Third Law of the Queen of Hearts to _always return things that you steal_ , right? So I can’t let you in.”

Ace spluttered again. “What!?”

“Sorry, kid. If you’re in this dorm, you gotta follow the rules.” Cater grinned, not looking sorry at all. “If I let you go, I’ll be the next one whose head will fly off.”

“Wait a second,” Deuce put in.

“I’m gonna have to get you all to leave before Riddle-kun notices.” A sinister light entered Cater’s eyes as his smile widened. “By force.”

—

Having been kicked back in front of the mirror, the four of them looked at Cater’s retreating back dumbly. Deuce and Grim were a little worse for the wear, but they were all too shocked to really be concerned about losing the fight they’d just started.

Yuu was the first to speak. “You know, he could’ve kicked us out immediately after seeing us. I know he recognised me.”

“But he didn’t,” Ace’s voice sped up with realization, “because he frickin’ wanted to use us for help! That bastard…as expected of a third year here…using me when he _knew_ I couldn’t use magic…!”

“Hey, just think of it as you being able to learn a new spell. In theory.” Yuu shrugged. “Plus we got to learn some more about your dorm.”

“Have you ever gotten angry in your entire life, once?” Ace stared at her like she was insane.

Deuce cut across them with a gasp. “What was that magic he used just now!?”

Grim had finally snapped out of his stupor, too. “I swear I beat him up real bad! Ten times! How’d he make so many copies of himself!?”

“Another spell?” Yuu said carelessly. In truth, she was rather interested in how Cater had managed to make so many perfect copies of himself, since they were able to move and attack separately. It easily violated some of Gamp’s principles.

“Aaaagh! We have no time for this!” Ace clutched his head. “Classes are gonna start soon and Trein said there’d be a quiz today! Dammit…my breakfast…and how am I gonna spend all day without my magic…?”

“It’s not like you usually use magic in class,” Yuu nudged them into a walk. “But we’ll load up at lunchtime, since I have the luxury of having free food from the cafeteria. Then we can figure out a way to make a tart and deliver it to your Dorm Head after school. Okay?”

“Make a tart…” Deuce gasped. “Yuu, you can clean, paint, and _cook_ too!?”

Ace prodded, “You know how to bake, Yuu?”

“Um, not really. But I can follow a recipe,” she added hastily. “If the internet exists in this world too, then just search up a video or a recipe or something and I’ll ask Headmaster if we can borrow the kitchens after school. So cheer up, Ace. Okay?”

Ace draped himself all over her, sobbing comically. “Yuu…I’ll follow you for the rest of my life!”

“Hey! Yuu’s _my_ henchman!” Grim protested, slapping at his hair.

“Whatever you say, just someone hold me when we go through the mirror,” Yuu said uneasily. “I’ll never get used to that thing.”

—

By lunchtime, the four of them were so hungry that they had barely paid attention during Trein’s lecture on the origin of magic stones. Well, Yuu tried, but Deuce’s stomach made hilariously loud noises when he moved and the four of them were trembling in their seats the entire time out of laughter.

“I think the entire class heard me.” Deuce didn’t seem too embarrassed as they joined the line for the buffet-style lunch table. There was a distinct gleam of pride in his voice.

“First Year, Class A. Also known as the group with the growling stomachs,” Ace said theatrically. “We even out-growled Lucius!”

“That cat was looking at you the whole time,” Grim said grumpily. He was still angry that he had been unable to sprint from her clutches between classes and skip. “Better watch out, Trein’s gonna call on you tomorrow.”

“I don’t care, because I’m a genius,” Ace sang.

Yuu remembered Scorpius’ grandfather, who went by the same name as Lucius the cat, with a strange sense of dissonance. Lucius Malfoy was as grumpy as Trein’s cat, but where the feline familiar was content to emit a continuous rumble during class and glare students into submission, the aging Lucius Malfoy seemed rather washed-out in comparison.

After fighting over what to pile on their trays and having Ace and Deuce shove all sorts of dishes on hers, Yuu narrowly avoided bumping into three groups of unfriendly schoolmates in line—one of whom had stuck out his foot to trip her—and stopped Deuce from going after a passing student with leopard ears that had sworn at her under his breath before they finally made it to a table.

“What the hell is with them?” Grim had noticed the last group and was puffed up in affront. “What do they have against you, Yuu? They didn’t even look at me.”

“Something about me rubbed that guy the wrong way, maybe?” Yuu started doling pasta onto Ace and Deuce’s plates as they plopped down across from her on a bench, the latter still stewing. “Grim, wipe your paws before you eat, please.”

“Yes, mother,” grumbled Grim, forgetting his retort.

Ace gave her a Look that told her he was still not over that topic. Deuce cracked his knuckles threateningly.

Yuu sighed at them. “It’s whatever,” she said exasperatedly, “and they’re just complaining, all right? Who was the one who got this weird soup?”

“Me,” Deuce said reluctantly, uncurling his hands, “I wanted to try it. I guess I’m more surprised than anything that in a famous private school like this, there are still lowbrow garbage like that walking around…”

“Right, this was a good school,” Yuu remembered. “Can I have a bit of this soup?”

“Go ahead, try it first and tell me how it is,” he responded. Deuce chewed thoughtfully on a meatball. “I keep forgetting you’re from a different planet.”

“Universe.”

“I’m not good at the complicated stuff,” Deuce waved it off.

“Or the simple stuff,” Ace paused, halfway through his plate of pasta, to add cheekily.

“But you really know nothing about this school, do you?” Deuce elbowed him.

“Ow! You fricking—”

Grim swallowed some of his omelette du fromage and cut in, “Speaking of this school, we saw your dorm today, but I still know nothing about the other dorms. And Yuu just spends all day with his nose in a book instead of exploring! So tell me what you know, Ace, Deuce.”

“He’s surpassed the definition of a ‘bookworm’ by now and should get called ‘bibliophile’,” Ace rolled his eyes at her. “What, is that the reason your bag’s so heavy all the time?”

“You’re not funny, mister Off-With-Your-Head-ed,” Yuu shot back.

“I think that being so studious is a good trait.” Deuce couldn’t resist retaliating. “Unlike _someone_ who keeps slacking off in alchemy class.”

“Mmm! This soup is a bullseye!” Yuu’s entire face brightened up. “Deuce, hurry up and try it, you’ll love it I swear.”

“Really? What’s in it?” Ace peered over Deuce’s shoulder as she passed the bowl of soup over.

“Mushrooms, carrots, some sort of fish-based sauce,” Yuu listed, “scallions, and corn. I think there might be some garlic too.”

Ace made a face at her. “What are you, a gourmet? Deuce, leave some for me.”

“As an erstwhile member of the fine arts club, we take appreciating all art very seriously,” Yuu sniffed, “especially the culinary arts.”

Still, before she’d come to this world, Yuu had never found food very tasty. Maybe Twisted Wonderland’s ingredients were better than the ones in her world? People in Hogwarts raved about the food all the time—Yuu had never felt much when she ate in the Great Hall or Hogsmeade. Sure, she tasted and separated the ingredients, but it all tasted the same.

But food here was really good. She wondered why.

“Plus, Grim gives better food reports than I do,” Yuu added as an afterthought.

“His is weird,” Ace protested. “He eats _everything_. Even grass.”

“That was once,” Yuu said sheepishly. “I stopped him the other times, okay? Us culinary appreciators have to maintain some composure!”

“Who cares,” Grim slapped her arm with his tail, “just tell me about the other dorms!”

“As if I’d know anything,” she muttered, dropping the pompous demeanour.

“We don’t really spend a lot of time in there,” Deuce explained through a mouthful of soup, “other than sleeping. Shouldn’t you know? We’re usually together, aren’t we?”

“Now that Grim mentions it, though, I do wonder what other dorms exist here,” Yuu passed him a napkin. “I think I counted seven of those mirrors in the hall this morning.”

“There are seven statues outside, each for one of the Seven Greats, right?” Cater said from her right side, stealing a meatball deftly. “That’s where the seven dorms come from. Good eye, Yuu-chan!”

“ _Geh_ …” Ace leaned away from him. “It’s you…”

“Hey! It’s that guy who knows how to make copies of himself!” Grim leapt onto the table.

“Stop that, it’s bad manners,” Yuu fished him back off gently, ignoring his grumbling. “Hello, Cater-senpai. Hopefully you got all the flamingos done.”

“That’s for after school!” Cater winked at her. “Here, have some eggs, they turned out great today!”

“Whoa! Thank you.”

“Plus, I was just following the rules back then, so don’t get mad at me,” he cajoled as Yuu took a bite of the fluffy egg and clutched her cheeks in bliss.

“I forgive you,” she mumbled.

“Don’t forgive him!” Ace shouted at her. “You totally tricked us into painting your roses!”

“Tricking sounds so bad when you say it like that,” Cater sighed, “I had to do it, you know?”

“You had a humongous smile on your face the whole time,” Deuce put in weakly.

“Well, Deuce-chan, since we’re not in ’Labyul, the Cay-kun right now is just a kind upperclassman to his new dorm-mates…and Yuu-chan, of course!”

“Don’t call me Deuce-chan, please!” Deuce looked rather affronted.

Yuu decided Cater was being honest enough, even if his voice had sounded rather scary when he said, ‘just a kind upperclassman’. What could she say? Those eggs were really well done.

A pleasant laugh from behind them caused her to turn around. Approaching their table was a tall bespectacled student, his short hair an unusual pine green. “The way he calls other people is just his way of showing affection, so please don’t mind him.”

Yuu blinked as he sat himself on her other side, sandwiching her and Grim in. “Are you Cater-senpai’s friend?”

“My bad, I hadn’t introduced myself.” He narrowed his ochre eyes at her in a friendly smile behind the glasses; unexpectedly, Yuu was reminded sharply of James’ father, who sometimes taught Defence, because his smile was much the same. “My name is Trey. Trey Clover. I’m a third year at Heartslabyul, same as Cater.”

“Nice to meet you, Trey-senpai. I’m Yuu and this is Grim. You might have heard of me as the Directing Student,” Yuu said wryly, smiling back. She could not help but hold a positive impression of someone who looked so much like James’ father. After all, Harry Potter had saved the wizarding world twice—and he taught a mean class of Defence.

“Of course I’ve heard of you. They put you up in that ramshackle…” Trey cleared his throat. “the unused building, didn’t they? It must be tough on you. Feel free to rely on your upperclassmen if you need anything.”

“Okay,” Yuu mumbled shyly, the positive impression shooting through the roof. It was said that the first six seconds of meeting someone decided much of what you thought about them forever. If so, she was sure that Trey had become her favourite person in this entire College already.

Trey adjusted his dark-rimmed glasses, revealing a small three-leaved clover painted on his left cheekbone. “I heard about what happened yesterday. Sorry about our dorm student,” at this he flicked a glance at Ace. “Hope he didn’t cause you too much trouble.”

“Ace is my buddy,” Yuu said with a smile, “so please don’t worry about it, senpai. Plus, the only good thing about Ramshackle Dorm is its huge bed, so there was enough space for all of us.”

“Or you’re just too small,” Ace rolled his eyes at her.

“The vertically challenged thing is getting old,” she monotoned at him.

“No it isn’t. Even after carrying you over my shoulders for like half an hour I was barely breathing hard. It’ll never get old.”

“Yuu isn’t small,” Grim squinted.

“Compared to _you_ , no one’s small.”

“ _Funa_!? I’ll have you know—”

Yuu tugged Grim backwards a bit and shoved the rest of the omelette in his mouth to shut him up. Grim made a slightly dissatisfied noise but chewed with gusto. “Did Cater-senpai have anything you wanted to talk to us about?”

“Aw, c’mon, can’t an upperclassman try and make friends with his cute underclassmen?” Cater pulled out his phone. “Let’s be friends, Yuu-chan! Do you do MagiCam?”

“I don’t have a phone, remember?” Yuu gave him a regretful smile. “Sorry.”

“He got summoned here by accident from a different planet,” Deuce explained through a mouthful of bread.

Cater started. “Right, you said something like that this morning. Wait, you weren’t joking?”

Trey lifted one eyebrow behind his glasses, blinking benignly. “Sorry, could you repeat that?”

Originally, Yuu had realized it was best to keep her circumstances quiet. Other than Kalim, who had a good instinct and still didn’t quite know where she was from, and Ace, Deuce and Grim, whom she had decided should know (they had a high chance of finding out anyway), it wasn’t too wise to spread the information around. Ace, who was probably thinking along the same lines as her, elbowed Deuce none too gently, making him choke on his bread.

It was a little late now, especially since she’d sort of let the cat out of the bag that morning. Yuu explained the circumstances of her arrival to a raptly listening Cater and a more sedate Trey, who was working his way steadily through his lunch.

“…I guess you can’t help it,” Cater said ruefully when she was done, “that you don’t have a phone here. But I think you might be the only kid in this entire school without one. In a way, are you a national treasure or something?”

Yuu couldn’t help but grin at his reaction. “Thanks, Cater-senpai.”

“Hmm? What’cha thanking me for?” Cater kept smiling like he hadn’t said all that to take the stress of her back. “Anyway, you need a phone at least if you’re gonna keep living here. How about I tell you about a good shop for them? We can go on a phone-searching date on the weekend!”

“Hey! Don’t steal my henchman!” Grim dove between Cater and her.

“Whoa!” Cater jerked backwards in surprise.

“Cater,” laughed Trey, “calm down a bit. The new student needs some time to react.”

“Actually, I don’t have any pocket money on me either,” Yuu told him regretfully around Grim’s round head. “Sorry. I’m pretty lucky to be living here for free. Maybe after I figure out a way to earn some money.”

Trey frowned. “…Isn’t Crowley giving you pocket money?”

“He gave me all my belongings and school things already,” Yuu explained. “Plus, there’s no need for me to have a smartphone, not really.”

“What the heck…” Cater gasped. “This kid is actually a good kid! In this school! And he doesn’t need a _phone?_ What kind of world did you _live_ in?”

“You don’t know, senpai,” Ace complained, “this little kid is so much of a bookworm that he should just transfer his dorm to the library.”

“I can’t help it! I’ve never been in a world with magic like this,” Yuu protested, “it’s all new to me.”

“Remember, you promised you’d explore the castle with me after,” Grim grumbled. “Which brings us back.”

“Oh, right! The dorms!” Cater remembered with a light smile. “Sure, I’ll explain ‘em to you! Just leave it to your big brothers here.”

“Why don’t you start with our own dorm,” Ace grumbled, tugging at his collar uncomfortably. “What’s with those insane rules, anyway? The Law of the Queen of Hearts or whatever.”

“Well, you should know all about the legendary Queen,” Trey began in measured tones. He paused and glanced at her. “Except our transfer here.”

“I finished _A Detailed Look into the Queen’s Reign_ last night, so I think I’ve got a good idea,” Yuu grinned at him. “She valued order above everything else and ordered beheadings daily, right? Apparently, she and all the residents of her country were insane in one way or the other.”

Trey raised both eyebrows, impressed. “You finished that? Not exactly light reading.”

“Really? It wasn’t too bad.” Yuu had sat through history treatises far duller than the one she’d read last night.

“In respect of the Queen’s accomplishments,” Cater picked up where he’d left off, “our dorm’s main colour is red, as you can see from the uniform’s vest, and black, as you can see from our armband.”

“The colour of our Pens is red too.” Ace fingered his ruby-red jewel.

“Are the vests optional?” Yuu wanted to know. “And what about the ribbons on your arms?”

“Vests are optional! Actually most of the uniform is optional.” Cater flapped a hand at his unbuttoned blazer; he was only wearing the untucked dress shirt underneath. “I personally can’t take that vest. It makes it hard to breathe. Ah, but this ribbon—the crest on the ribbon showing off your dorm—that’s an armband and it’s required.”

“Identification purposes?” Yuu guessed, feeding Grim bits of her leftover lunch. Yuu wasn’t someone who could eat a lot in the first place, but to her delight, Grim was—which meant that he got all her leftovers.

“You’re a pretty quick one!” Cater nodded at her. “Most people just wear the uniform but there are always people who mix and match. Oh, and the other must for being in ’Labyul is to obey the Queen’s laws.”

Grim looked singularly unimpressed. “Feels unbelievably cramped. Ace was right, Ramshackle’s better.”

“See?” Ace said smugly.

“The thing is, it’s up to the Dorm Head to see how tightly he wants us to stick to the rules,” Cater leaned one elbow on the table, “and the Dorm Head before this one was pretty chill.”

“Dorm Head Riddle, on the other hand, is one of the most serious, strict ones in history,” Trey said, sounding nothing short of amused. “He’s doing all he can to protect the traditions around here.”

“What a pain,” Ace muttered.

“I see,” Deuce pressed a gloved finger to his mouth.

Grim was done with the topic already. “And the other dorms?” he said excitedly.

“So the Heartslabyul dorm was founded upon the severe spirit of the Queen of Hearts, which we are affiliated with,” Trey summarized, setting his fork down. “After that, we’ve got…the dorm founded upon the indomitable spirit of the King of the Hundred Beasts, the Savanaclaw dorm.”

“Savanaclaw,” Yuu repeated, feeling an instant kinship with the dorm. Mostly because it sounded quite a bit like her own Ravenclaw.

“Right, all of the animal-ear dudes you see around are from Savanaclaw.” Cater nodded.

“Animal—you mean the people with the really cool animal ears and stuff!?” Yuu leaned forwards excitedly. “They’re real? I thought it was just a weird costume.”

Cater burst out laughing. “They don’t have these kinds of people in your world?”

“Not at all.” Werewolves were far less benign.

Grim thwacked her with his tail. “Hey! I wanna hear about the other dorms!”

“Sorry,” Yuu cleared her throat sheepishly. “Um, keep going.”

Trey hadn’t lost that amused gaze. “There’s also the dorm founded on the benevolence of the Witch of the Sea, the Octavinelle dorm,” he held up a third finger, “the dorm founded upon the careful consideration of the great wise man of the desert, the Scarabia dorm…”

“Scarabia!” Yuu blurted out, remembering Kalim and Jamil.

“Hmm? Yeah. You heard of them?”

“You could say that.” Yuu coughed. “Sorry. Keep going.”

“Then we have the dorm founded on the spirit of effort of the most beautiful queen—Pomefiore,” Trey ticked off, “the dorm founded on the King of the Dead’s diligence, Ignihyde, and lastly, the dorm founded on the noble spirit of the Witch of Thorns, Diasomnia.”

“That’s way too much information at once,” mumbled Ace. Deuce nodded confusedly. Grim, however, looked as excited as he had been on the first day of class.

“Sounds cool!” He turned to her expectantly.

“Are you going remember the names?” she raised a brow.

“Heck no. That’s your job, henchman,” Grim said as if it were obvious.

Yuu rolled her eyes. She was wondering about these dormitories—even before she had left home for Hogwarts, Yuu was not a Dixney addict, but she could recognize the tragic figure of Scxr, the devious Ursxla, the coolly evil Hxdes. Yet here, they were praised by Ace and Trey, described as “hard-working” and “indomitable” and “merciful”.

Twisted Wonderland. Were the facts twisted—or were its residents?

“Anyway, you’ll get the hang of it pretty fast,” Cater said lightly. “Don’t worry about the names.”

“Okay.” Yuu, who liked Cater fine enough, agreed without complaint.

“As you guys know, you’re put into dorms based on the Mirror’s judgment of the shape of your soul at the opening ceremony, but there is sort of a common character among each dorm,” Trey explained.

“Yeah, yeah, a common sort of personality trait or something,” Cater agreed.

“Character?” Deuce and Yuu chimed in simultaneously.

“Hmm…” Trey looked around. “For example, that guy.”

The person he indicated, who was sitting alone at a bench, had the most magnificent set of canine ears that Yuu had ever seen. They stood tall on both sides of his head in a shock of curled silver hair that fell to his neck and darkened to a sooty grey. He was facing the other way, but what little she could see of his skin was baked brown.

“He’s huge,” muttered Grim, a little intimidated. It was then that she saw how his arms strained at the fabric of his uniform blazer and how, even bent over his food, he towered above everyone in the cafeteria easily.

“Ears,” Yuu gaped, all of that unimportant.

“If you take into account that muscle, you can probably assume that guy’s from Savanaclaw,” Trey explained.

“You bet he is,” Cater snapped his fingers. “That dorm is full of muscle men and people who are in the athletic or self-defence clubs.”

“Their armbands are sandy yellow-and-black,” Trey pointed out for them, “and you can usually tell by their ah…square appearance.”

“ _Ears_ ,” Yuu insisted.

Ace snickered at her. “Here comes animal lover Yuu.”

“Do you think he’d let me pet them if I asked?” Yuu wondered dreamily.

“I’d stop right there,” Cater laughed nervously, “those types tend to be quick to action, if you know what I mean.”

“Aw, man.”

“What about that guy?” Grim pointed.

“Oh, the grey-and-lilac armbands belong to Octavinelle.” Trey obliged. “And the ones sitting at the neighbouring table with the rouge-and-sand armbands are from Scarabia. Both of those dorms are full of the brainy types, so exams are always a dead-heat race between the two of them.”

Yuu followed his gaze. “Hmm…but Kalim-senpai doesn’t seem like he cares that much about exams.”

“That’s right, the dorm head of Scarabia’s…” Trey paused and raised a brow. “Transfer, you’re acquainted with them?”

“Huh? Yeah, I sit with him sometimes at breakfast. And when Ace and Deuce get dragged out for remedials by Professor Crewel.” Yuu nibbled on her dessert cookie absently. “He’s a great guy.”

“What! You didn’t tell me!” Ace pointed at her, looking betrayed.

Deuce clutched at his chest. “Yuu! Was I just a joke to you? So you’ve had someone on the side this whole time!?”

Yuu dropped her cookie. “Deuce, please believe me!” she adopted an earnest expression. “You’re the only one for me. I’m serious about you!”

“You said that about _me_ yesterday, you adulterer!” Ace put his head in his hands, starting to fake sobs.

“Scarabia’s dorm head seemed like kind of an idiot,” Grim said blankly, “but these three are the worst idiots I’ve ever seen.”

“I don’t wanna hear that from you,” Ace, Deuce, and Yuu dropped their act to deadpan at Grim simultaneously.

Cater was bent over, trembling. Trey chuckled, “You four are a real riot. I think you’ll be just fine here. Next are those, uh, sparkling students over there…”

Yuu picked up her cookie again and glanced at the table in the centre, where dark indigo-and-red armband sporting students were engaging in quiet conversation. “Wow, they’re so pretty.”

Grim nodded emphatically. “Those girls are pretty cute!”

“Huh? In a boy’s school!?” Deuce seemed shocked.

Yuu dropped her cookie again.

“You moron,” Ace rolled his eyes, “like anyone properly enrolled in this school would be a girl.”

“Transfer?” Trey peered over at her. “You okay?”

“…Boy’s…school…?” Yuu repeated very slowly.

“Man, you know nothing about NRC, do you?” Cater laughed. “Sorry to disappoint, but there are no cute girls he~re. You’ll have to find your girlfriend somewhere else!”

“You didn’t notice?” Trey muttered. “It’s been a month.”

Yuu planted both hands on the table and shot to her feet, her voice rising. “You gotta be kidding me!”

“You really want a girlfriend?” Ace squinted at her. “Give it up, kid. You’re probably shorter than most girls your age. Add some muscle first.”

“Yuu! Don’t go to school with such an impure reason running through your head!” Deuce scolded her.

“Aw man…I wanted to see cute girls,” Grim complained. “I feel like I’ve been tricked.”

Boy’s school? Night Raven College was all-male!? Yuu’s mind whirred furiously. This was going to be a problem.

Sure, she didn’t really care if she was mistaken as a boy, but Yuu wasn’t actively trying to cross-dress. It was simply because she didn’t care—and because people tended to assume that she was male here, with her hair tied back and her chest pressed down—that she’d not bothered to correct others when they’d assumed she was male. In the first place Yuu hadn’t really understood why they were so quick to think her male—until now.

“Not a single girl in this entire building?” Yuu stared at Trey with beseeching eyes.

“Nope,” he killed her hopes cheerfully. “Other students might come to our school during games, though. You can try picking some up then.”

How the hell was she going to get underwear now? What would Crowley say if he knew? She’d get kicked out so fast…and then she’d have to find a way back by herself…but how long could she stay here without being found out? With her stature? Yuu put her head in her hands despondently and collapsed into her seat, cookie forgotten. “I’m doomed.”

Ace snickered. “Sorry you’re stuck with me,” he fluttered his eyelashes at her.

Yuu swatted at him grumpily. “Please. Deuce is prettier than you.”

“Like hell he is!”

“You’re just jealous,” Deuce said haughtily.

“There is the painting of Rosalia hung in the West school building,” Cater recalled. “Her portrait’s pretty cute! If you’re interested, I’ll introduce you. Or want me to set up a blind date?”

“No thanks,” Ace twitched. “She might be cute, but she’s er…kind of two-dimensional, isn’t she?”

“Me, me, introduce me,” Yuu waved a hand.

Deuce gave her a rather unimpressed stare. “You sure are desperate.”

Yuu gave him a cheeky grin. “Being surrounded by un-cute guys like you all the time leaves something to be desired.”

He gasped comically. “That’s horrible of you! I thought we had something!”

“Ha! In your dreams. I’ll admit it! I only care about true beauty!” Yuu made a flourish. “It’s over between us!”

“Noooooo!” Deuce buried his head in his hands.

“You guys are having a little too much fun, aren’t you?” Trey shook his head at them. “Well, it is true that Pomefiore holds their students to a high beauty standard.”

“You should’ve been put in there,” Ace said blankly to her, “with your ‘I’m-a-fine-arts-club-member’ vibes.”

“No thanks,” Yuu shook her head, “I might be a bit of a snob about it, but c’mon, I’d look like a dirty dishrag next to that tall blond over there.”

“That’s the Dorm Head!” Cater brightened up. “He’s got five million followers on MagiCam already. Can you believe it?”

Yuu tried to remember how many followers famous people had on Tweeter in her world and then gave up. Five million was nothing to scoff at.

“Beauty’s what Cater cares about, with his MagiCam addiction,” Trey cut in, “but Pomefiore students tend to be talented in curse magic and medicine as well.”

“Curse magic?” Yuu forgot about her despair at being trapped in a boy’s school and scooted closer to him in interest. “That stuff isn’t frowned upon?”

“Why would it be?” Trey looked askance at her. “…Oh, I forget you’re not from this world. It’s just another name for magic that takes place over an area-of-effect. You can call them ‘incantations’ too.”

Yuu resolved to look up curse magic in the library.

Cater had been squinting around the classroom, but he shook his head with a sigh. “Can’t see any of the blue-and-black armbands from Ignihyde, sorry. Truth is, those guys are pretty secretive. Even I don’t have a friend from Ignihyde.”

“What a shock,” Ace mumbled.

“Ignihyde’s full of what Cater calls gloomy characters,” explained Trey, “which is pretty much the opposite of Labyul, since we’re apparently stuffed to the brim with sunny characters.”

“So they’re all glum?” Grim asked.

“That’s not fair to them!” Trey laughed. “It’s true that there are a lot of quiet students in ’Hyde, but they’re wicked smart with magical energy engineering and digital stuff that involves it. I hear the reason we have electricity and running water and such is because someone from Ignihyde engineered it a long time ago.”

Yuu added ‘magical engineering’ to her research topic list. “Too bad they aren’t around. I’d have loved to talk to one of them.”

“You sure are curious, huh?”

“He might as well just pitch a tent in the library,” Ace rolled his eyes.

“There’s just the Dialalalala dorm left, right?” Deuce pulled them back to the topic.

Ace and Yuu exchanged glances. “He looks confident, but he has no idea what the name is, does he,” she said.

“I’ll give him five points for that confident face,” Ace relented. “It’s _Diasomnia_ , all right?”

“I, I just bit my tongue, that’s all!” Deuce rushed to backtrack.

“Right, Diasomnia…” Cater glanced around. “There. In the back, at the special seating area up those stairs. That’s Diasomnia, with the yellow-green and black armbands.”

Yuu craned her neck together with Ace and Deuce to stare up at the raised mezzanine where a few students were gathered. “Special seating?”

“How d’you put it? That place is full of celebs,” Cater shrugged. “They have this aura around them. It’s hard to even get close. And the Dorm Head is like…he’s maxed out his intimidation stat.”

“Huh? There’s a kid over there?” Ace squinted.

“Our school allows grade-skipping and entering based on merit,” Trey explained.

“Oh good,” Yuu sighed, “at least I’ve got that going for me.”

“This kid’s fifteen,” Ace shoved a thumb at her.

“Just turned fifteen end of August,” she held up two fingers in a victory sign.

“Really?” Trey blinked at her. “You must be intelligent, then. Most people here are sixteen when they enter.”

“Considering I don’t know anything about this world and its classes, I highly doubt that,” Yuu said weakly. She’d always thought that Ravenclaw’s insistence on ‘intelligence’ being their highest virtue was kind of stupid in itself.

“But you kno~w, that guy you pointed out is a third year,” Cater brought them back.

“Right, he’s not a kid at all,” Trey said ruefully. “His name is—”

Yuu felt it a millisecond before a head swung upside down to face her. “—Lilia. Lilia Vanrouge.”

Yuu stared wide-eyed at the child floating upside down over the table. She’d felt it when he’d moved. His…teleportation? Whatever it was, it wasn’t the same thing as the magic Ace and Deuce had used. This was closer to her magic—apparition, Floo—than anything else she’d felt.

Also, his hair wasn’t being pulled downwards by gravity. Somehow he was counteracting his blazer’s tendency to fall downwards, too.

The boy’s hair was as black as hers, but streaks of vivid purple brightened the chin-length strands. The same magenta glowed in his eyes and she realized with a start that these slit pupils were the ones she had seen from the deep-voiced child at the opening ceremony. Skin pale as moonlight and features formed delicately small, he looked like a fairy, not quite human, a little too _much_ to be normal.

Yuu only realized that she and this Lilia had been locked in a staring contest when Ace and Deuce reacted with twin shouts of surprise. Yuu blinked out of her stupor as Lilia Vanrouge flipped upright and dropped down between Cater and Yuu gracefully, his blazer settling around his shoulders like a mantle. Grim had fallen over in Ace’s lap from the surprise.

“You children are curious about my age?” once again, his deep voice and manner of speech sounded ancient. Two cowlicks of magenta stood up on either side of his head, bouncing with his movements rather incongruously.

“That guy just _teleported_ ,” Grim recovered from his shock belatedly.

“ _Ku fu fu._ I sure look young and energetic and cute, right?” Lilia’s smile revealed two sharpened canine teeth. “However, like that glasses said, I’m not at an age where someone could call me a…child.”

“Energetic and cute…” Trey looked a little repulsed.

“You don’t have to just stare at a distance.” Lilia glanced around the table and then looked up at her with those catlike eyes. “Why don’t you come up to us and ask about us? We’re students attending the same school, aren’t we?”

Yuu nodded, wide-eyed, at him. Lilia’s eyes narrowed in a smile.

“Our Diasomnia will welcome you at any time,” his voice softened briefly.

Deuce glanced over at the table again. “Those guys over there look like they’d rather die than talk to us,” he pointed out.

“Wait,” Ace hissed at him. “Those guys are at least thirty meters away from us! How the hell did he hear what we were talking about?!”

Yuu couldn’t look away from Lilia. This person, her guts were screaming at her, wasn’t human. She’d dealt with all sorts of magical creatures—and though she was pretty sure he wasn’t a ‘creature’, there was something about Lilia that made her feel itchy, discontent.

Lilia stared back, his smile unchanging. “So, child, what do they call you?”

“Yuu,” she said carefully. It was not wise to reveal her last name, but she’d gotten it struck a year ago due to her internship overseas with Charlie Weasley anyway. It was an extra layer of protection to lessen the names bound to a witch or wizard’s soul. Either way, this person wasn’t human, which meant that names could hold power over her.

Lilia, evidently, had not missed her cautiousness. “Yuu,” he repeated slowly, “I would love to have a nice chat with you sometime.”

Yuu gulped. “Yessir,” she squeaked. She wondered if this school was going to let her live past the first month.

—

Lunch the next day saw Cater and Trey approach their table, sliding in on either side of Yuu. She thought it must because both Ace and Deuce were collapsed on the table. The former still had the collar on—in the end, they hadn’t been able to meet the Dorm Head, so he’d stuck around Ramshackle for another day complaining.

“What’s up with the firsties?” Cater asked, pouring dressing over his salad liberally.

“Hello, senpai,” Yuu greeted them with an exasperated smile. “They got scolded by Professor Crewel.”

“There’s no way we could’ve known all that!” Moaned Ace into his arms.

“I should’ve studied more,” Deuce muttered despondently.

“Crewel’s a pretty strict teacher, so getting called on is the end of your luck,” Trey shook his head. “Grim looks like he’s done for too.”

“ _Funaaa_ …” Grim curled up on the table. “I’m quitting this stupid school.”

“Aww, don’t say that,” Yuu sighed helplessly. “Here, have some chicken.”

“You got lucky?” Trey asked her as Grim sulkily reached for the plate she set in front of him.

“Huh?” Yuu gave him a confused look.

“You think this nerd didn’t know the answer?” Ace scoffed. “He can’t use magic, runs slower than a turtle, has no sense of self-preservation, gets all snobby about art and food, reads so much his eyes might as well fall out—”

“Are you just here to insult me?” Yuu cut in tonelessly.

“—but Yuu is smarter than everyone else in the first year’s Class A,” Deuce finished, picking his head up. “Especially in alchemy.”

“I’ve read some of this stuff before,” Yuu shrugged. Alchemy and potions resembled each other in some strange ways despite being completely different subjects.

“Huh…” Trey gave her a considering glance. “You managed to answer Crewel’s quiz on the spot?”

“I happened to know the answer, that’s all.” She swallowed a mouthful of rice. Today’s topic on mandragoras had made her realize that they didn’t differ between worlds at all. “Plus, I think Professor Crewel doesn’t like me very much.”

“He does seem to glare at you a lot,” Deuce said thoughtfully.

“Really? To me it looks like he’s worried. He even calls you _little_ puppy.” Ace disagreed. “Probably scared you’ll fall into a cauldron one day.”

“Look, those cauldrons are too big,” Yuu said in affront, causing all of them to burst into laughter.

“I’ve heard the Dorm Head saying the same thing,” Trey told her with a grin. “That the cauldrons are unnecessarily large.”

“Really? Is he the same as me then?” Yuu said interestedly. She’d had to crane her head up to stare at these students for most of the month, so Yuu was eager to meet someone of a similar height.

“As if that mega crazy Dorm Head is the same as you!” Ace burst out.

Cater nodded absently. “True that. Diasomnia’s Dorm Head is super crazy, but our dorm head is kinda mad, too.”

“Yeah! Crazy selfish!” Ace leaned forwards angrily. “It ain’t even on the scale of crazy anymore, he’s just being a tyrant!”

“Hmm…?” A chilly voice answered from above her right shoulder. “So I’m a tyrant?”

“Obviously!” Ace continued, shoving food in his mouth, “Absolutely nobody’s—”

Deuce smacked him frantically. “Ace! Look up!”

Yuu turned around as Ace gasped out, “Oh shit! It’s the Dorm Head!”

Without the dark fabric of the robe covering his head, the redhead who had caught Grim looked like an exquisitely fashioned china doll. Indeed, he couldn’t be much taller than her, and in the bright chandelier light of the cafeteria, his red hair glowed with an especially brilliant shine.

She didn’t have time to be staring at him, though. Gloved hands folded across his neatly pressed uniform, he narrowed his long-lashed grey eyes at her for a brief moment—Yuu held her breath—before moving his gaze up to Cater.

The third year laughed nervously. “Hey, Riddle-kun! You’re as mad _cute_ as ever today!”

Riddle’s nostrils flared delicately. “Hmph. Cater. If you keep exercising that smart mouth of yours, I’m going to have to Behead you.”

“Aw man, forgive me!” Cater replied easily, but his hands had curled a little tighter around his fork and knife.

Grim leapt upon the table. “ _Funa_!? Hey, this guy’s the one who put me in that weird collar at the opening ceremony!”

Riddle’s sharp gaze transferred to him—Grim immediately leapt onto her shoulders and hid behind her hair. Yuu, met with the unimpressed grey gaze of this Dorm Head, ducked her head in a greeting. “Um, hello. I’m sorry about Ace.”

“You two…and those two,” Riddle’s gaze flicked over her head to the silent Ace and Deuce briefly. “You’re the students who nearly got expelled at the beginning of the month.”

Yuu hadn’t been a student at that time, but she had caused trouble enough where she usually just nodded along. “Yes sir.”

“It’s rude to call someone’s Unique Magic a ‘weird collar’,” Riddle’s large eyes narrowed a little more. He sighed. “The Headmaster sure is lenient. Even though relaxing the punishments on rule-breaking will weaken the entire foundation and send everything into collapse, he’s…”

That she could agree with. The Headmaster had indeed been unbelievably lenient on them—unbelievably kind to her, all jokes aside. Yuu petted Grim, who was getting puffy with anger on her shoulder, and bobbed her head along with his words.

Riddle looked down at her coldly. “He should just gather all the rule breakers together and sever their heads in one clean sweep.”

“Literally…?” Yuu asked quietly, a little afraid.

Ace muttered from behind her, “It’s even scarier when he makes threats with that doll-like face.”

Riddle had heard him. Thin scarlet brows slanted down severely over his eyes. “It seems that the Headmaster has forgiven you. But remember well that the next time you go against the rules, _I_ will not.”

“Um, would you like to sit down?” Yuu suggested, scooting over a bit to make room. “Have you had lunch yet? Today’s risotto is really good.”

Riddle lost his glare, staring down at her in surprise. Grim made a funny choking noise and Ace dropped his fork with a clatter. The Dorm Head frowned. “You are…”

“I’m the ah…unruly new Directing Student,” she said sheepishly. “My name is Yuu. My partner student here is Grim. Nice to meet you!”

Riddle returned her slight lowering of the head with a blink. When surprised, his eyes looked even bigger, making his small face seem almost childishly young. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, Ace cut in with a loud cough,

“Ah…Dorm Head!” he said cheerfully. “Would it be okay if you, you know, took this collar off?”

Riddle’s eyes narrowed right back down. “I was looking to see if there was a scrap of repentance on you so I could make that judgment, but it seems that from your earlier statements, you’re quite content with the way things are, aren’t you?” he put one gloved hand on his waist. “Why don’t you wear it for a while longer. Before you worry, first-years usually don’t do practical magic this early, so there should be no drawbacks in your classes.”

This time it was her turn to be shocked. Yuu gaped at Riddle. He had come to their table quite deliberately to check on Ace, a student in his dorm which he’d punished, and was open to removing the collar if Ace was truly sorry. In addition, he was well aware of the consequences of removing Ace’s magic and had checked ahead of time that there wouldn’t be a problem in his classes. And although his manner of speech was rather prideful and unfriendly, Riddle had yet to exact punishment on either of the people who had been speaking behind his back.

From Cater’s and Ace’s complaints, she had thought that Riddle was a simple despot—yet this person was making his decisions with thought put behind each one. He was nothing like the Queen in the history account she’d read yesterday.

Ace spluttered, clearly not thinking along the same lines as she did.

Riddle ignored him, scanning their table. “Well then, if you’ve finished eating, don’t loiter and prepare for your next class. According to the Queen’s two-hundredth-and-seventy-first law, _one must leave their seats no more than fifteen minutes after finishing lunch_. You understand what happens to rulebreakers, don’t you?”

“More rules?” Ace looked singularly unimpressed.

“Your answer should be, ‘yes, Dorm Head!’” Riddle’s sharp voice cracked at him like a whip.

Ace and Deuce sat up straight. “Yes, Dorm Head!”

Riddle transferred his gaze to her.

Yuu echoed, “Yes, Dorm Head.” She wasn’t part of the Heartslabyul Dorm, though…in fact, wasn’t _she_ the Dorm Head of Ramshackle, technically? Either way, it seemed wiser to go along with Riddle for now.

He nodded once. “Good.”

Trey took pity on them and cut in, his cheerful smile never fading. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to watch over them.”

Riddle relaxed his glare marginally, sighing at Trey. “You’re the vice Dorm Head, so don’t be so flippant and fulfil your duties properly.”

Yuu lifted her hand hesitantly. “Um, sorry, I don’t think I’ve been introduced.”

Riddle blinked several times. “Ah, where are my manners? I forget that you weren’t here for the entirety of the opening ceremony. My name is Riddle Rosehearts. I am a second year and the Dorm Head of Heartslabyul.” Like a gentleman, Riddle pressed his right hand to his chest and lowered his head in a refined bow.

“Nice to meet you, Rosehearts-senpai,” Yuu said with a smile, bowing back. “Would you like to join us for the remainder of lunch?”

“Your invitation is appreciated, Directing Student, but I must protect the three-hundred-and-thirty-ninth law of the Queen of Hearts,” Riddle explained, “ _The tea after finishing a meal must be lemon, with two sugars_. Thus, I am off to the school canteen, so I will take my leave here.”

Yuu gaped. “That sounds tough. Um, good luck.”

Riddle left, muttering something about running out of sugar in the sugar pot being a heavy crime. As he turned, she thought she saw the Magical Pen fastened to his chest pocket glow black for a moment.

The students around the retreating Dorm Head burst into whispers when they left. She heard mutters of ‘thank God’, ‘finally gone’ and ‘wanna switch dorms’.

Yuu muttered to herself, “Is Rosehearts-senpai okay?”

Trey gave her a sharp glance, but Cater had collapsed on the table with a sigh and distracted them. “Phew! That was a close one.”

Grim jumped back on the table unhappily. “That guy’s unpleasant.”

Deuce smacked him. “Don’t be rude!”

Trey patted her on the shoulder. “You don’t look very scared, transfer.”

Yuu shook her head. “Your Dorm Head seems like he’s really responsible.”

“Responsible,” spat Ace. He sighed out his anger and poked at the remnants on his plate. “Hey Yuu. Apologizing obviously didn’t work, so what now?”

“Now?” Yuu shrugged absently. “I want to talk to him again, so we should go ahead with the tart-making plan, right? I mean, if we’re allowed to borrow the kitchens. But I don’t have any ingredients…should we serve tea with the tart?”

Deuce gave her a nod, recovering from his pale-faced shock. “Yuu…you’re a true man. Courageous and decisive! I like it!”

Yuu made a funny face at him. She wasn’t even one percent male.

Ace muttered, “I don’t get why you’re not afraid of that guy. Just listen to what the others are saying.”

Trey and Cater exchanged sombre glances. The former cleared his throat. “…Our Dorm Head filled this spot not even a week after he first began schooling.”

“A week!?” Yuu repeated. “The Headmaster…”

“Just because Riddle’s words are a little tough to hear doesn’t mean he’s not an excellent prefect. He’s got the best interests of ’Labyul in mind,” Trey explained.

“So he just randomly seals away the magic of students?” Grim argued, unimpressed. “What is that, anyway?”

“Grim,” Yuu cut in. It was unwise for him to make a public stance against Riddle when he already had a black mark on his back.

“You mean his Unique Magic?” Trey answered him.

Grim forgot his anger. “What’s that? Sounds cool!”

Cater explained, eager for a topic change, that the Unique Magic of a student was a spell innate to the shape of a magician’s soul that skilled magicians were able to develop. Apparently, because of the unique way the spell was created—which reminded Yuu a little of the Patronus charm—the Unique Magic of one person was usually unable to be used by anyone else. Riddle’s magic was to ‘seal the magic of others for a brief period of time’, although Ace’s collar had already been locked on his throat for a day and a half.

“Why does the name have to sound so scary?!” Grim clutched at her arm, eyes teary.

“That’s ’cauuuuse,” Cater leaned in with both hands held up into claws. “For a magician, getting your magic sealed is basically as painful as losing your head!”

“Why? Because it’s inconvenient? Or because you’ll be made fun of? Or is it because magicians have a lot of enemies that will aim for their weak spots?” Yuu listed absently. Having lived in a rather peaceful time—missing the war against Voldemort by only a decade or so—she could hardly imagine magic being a target for assassination, but with the state of the Pureblood families in Wizarding England, she couldn’t rule it out.

Trey stared at her. “…What was your name again, kid?”

“Me?” she pointed at herself. “I’m Yuu. Why?”

“…” Trey shook his head, his cheerful smile returning. “Oh, nothing. You sure have a vivid imagination.”

“Really? I get told the opposite all the time,” Yuu furrowed a brow, wondering why he had looked so surprised. “Well, in a way, it’s quite easy to get into the Dorm Head’s good graces. As long as you follow the rules, you’re in the clear, right?”

“Don’t say it that easily! His rules don’t make sense!” Ace flung a piece of lettuce at her. “You said you’d help me, brat!”

“I’ll help you,” Yuu rolled her eyes. “You free after school for tart-making?”

“What, you’re going to make tarts? Yuu-chan, you can cook?” Cater peered into her face with an expectant smile. “Man~ our new firstie’s so cute! He’s like a little housewife!”

“Are you calling me a big housewife?” Trey raised one eyebrow at Cater. “Tart-making isn’t even that difficult.”

“That’s true. Since they’re all made by a big hulking dude like you.” Cate returned easily. “But you always make whole tarts since Riddle-kun likes to eat the first piece the most, don’t you? That’s pretty much what a housewife does.”

Yuu swung around to face him in surprise. “All those were made by you, senpai?”

“No way,” Ace said slowly, mouth open, “I thought they were from a store. It tasted frickin’ decadent.”

“Thanks,” Trey scratched the back of his neck with a smile, “It’s my hobby to make sweets anyway. If you guys are making a tart, want some help?”

“Yes! Yes please Trey-senpai I want some help!” Ace leapt at the suggestion.

Trey’s smile gained a devilish twist. “Well…I’m not going to suggest it for free, though.”

“What!? I don’t have much on me!”

“Why would I need to take money from my underclassmen?” Trey said reasonably. “You see, the next tart that I’m making for Riddle needs a ton of chestnuts. How about you three collect the chestnuts for me and we’ll make the tarts together?”

“The party’s tomorrow, isn’t it,” she remembered. “Your uh…Unbirthday party?”

“Got it in one. Usually we make huge tarts for that day, especially since guests tend to be invited.” Trey thought for a moment. “I guess for tomorrow’s tart, we’ll need around two to three hundred chestnuts.”

“That much?!” Deuce and Grim chorused.

“And once you get them all collected, I’ll need your help roasting, peeling and straining them.”

“Can I go home?” Grim smiled widely.

“Me too.” Deuce added.

“You heartless jerks!” Ace cried.

“In return, you get to eat it after you make it together! I’m sure it’ll be de~licious!” Cater put in from the side.

“And you’ll appear to eat the finished product, senpai?” Yuu guessed.

“Ah ha. What on earth could you be talking about, Yuu-chan?” Cater winked at her. “Just think about it. Making memories with your friends in the kitchen…you could even debut as a food blogger!”

“No phone, remember?” she deadpanned.

Trey smirked. “It’s a secret from the Dorm Head, but the Marron Tart is most delicious when it’s just come out of the oven. And the only people who get to eat the freshly made tart are the people who did the hard work.”

“Hey, hey, you slackers! Put your backs into it! We’re gonna pick chestnuts and keep picking ’em till we all drop, got it?” Grim changed tacks at the speed of light.

“As expected of the great Grim,” Yuu rolled her eyes. She turned to Trey. “Senpai, where should we gather the chestnuts, and are there boxes or containers we should use?”

“I guess I’m not worried about them if you go together with those guys,” Trey gave the three salivating students a wry glance. “The woods behind NRC’s botanical gardens are ripe for the picking. We’ve got permission to borrow tools from the gardens, too, so you should go grab buckets and gloves from inside the greenhouse.”

“What about ingredients?” Yuu asked, reaching for her bag. “Do we need spices, baking powder, flour, eggs…”

Trey laughed and ruffled her hair. “Don’t worry about it, I’ve got most of the stuff already. The chestnuts are really what we need, transfer. Be careful, though—the spikes can be really painful.”

“Okay,” Yuu said. “Then we’ll gather at the gardens after school to pick up gloves. Um, by the way, this school has gardens?”

Ace smacked his head. “You’ve been here for a month! How do you not know where the gardens are?”

“I only know the Headmaster’s office, the first-year classrooms, the infirmary, and the Mirror Chamber are.” She ticked off.

“And the library,” Deuce added.

“Only the library,” Ace muttered.

“Where else am I going to find info about this world?” she shot back.

“I’ll tell you where to go, but we can’t meet you at the gardens right away,” Ace rolled his eyes at her. “I’ve got to do a physical for the basketball club and so does Deuce.”

“Huh? Deuce, you’re joining the basketball club too?” Yuu squinted at the dark-haired student.

“Not me, I’m in track and field.” Deuce clarified. “It looks like we’re both going to make the preliminary tryouts, so we all have to make sure we’re in good shape before we do actual tryouts next week. You’re not gonna join any clubs?”

“I might not even be around next week,” Yuu said dryly, though she doubted it. “Grim, d’you wanna go with them to see or do you want to hang out with me in the gardens? If you want to join a club—”

“What are you talking about?” Grim looked at her like she was insane. “You’re my henchman. Why should I go anywhere without you? Stop being dumb and let’s go to class.”

“Grim…” Yuu, touched, squeezed him to her.

“Looks like this year’s first years are really interesting,” Cater put his hand on his chin and examined their group with a narrow-eyed smile. “Right, Trey?”

Trey smiled and didn’t say anything in response.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
> **Edited |** December 31st, 2020 for grammar, better definitions, and minor details like spelling Pomefiore wrong all the time… 
> 
> —
> 
> **Definitions |**
> 
> _oudh_ | one of the most expensive components of fragrance in the entire world. Also called agarwood and found most commonly in India, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Kalim wears this scent.
> 
> _senpai_ | “upperclassman”. Indicates respect. Is pretty much required to use in Japan when talking to those above your year in school unless they’ve given permission to drop it (and even then). Of course, some rude Twisted Wonderland characters refuse to use it…
> 
> _MagiCam (マジカメ, majikame)_ | the social networking service frequently used within the Twisted Wonderland. I took the personal liberty of translating MagiKame to 'MagiCam' just cause the former sounds like 'magic turtle' in Japanese. (This is made fun of in Episode 5)
> 
> _sunny and gloomy characters (陽キャラ、陰キャラ, you-kyara, in-kyara)_ | here’s another one of those otaku language terms that only people like Idia use. Sunny characters are like Cater and Kalim—they’re extraverts and popular. Gloomy characters are introverted and unpopular like Idia…and apparently the player character, according to one of his card voices! There’s a lot more nuance to this but try looking it up. Otaku language is fun to use.
> 
> —
> 
> Things are going to follow the in-game story closely for the first few chapters, since entropy starts slow. Yuu doesn't stir the pot quite as quickly as some other main characters tend to. Still, she's by no means going to sit back and watch things happen. With her presence, the events of the first Episode have already been dragged back two or three weeks -- originally, everything happened on the first week of school.
> 
> —
> 
> Thank you for reading, as well as your kudos, bookmarks and subscriptions. Please leave a comment below!
> 
> —


	4. The Red Ruler.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace continues to try and appease the unhappy Riddle. Meanwhile, Yuu stumbles upon an upperclassman in NRC's botanical gardens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
> Your comments, kudos, bookmarks and subscriptions brighten up my day! Thank you all 💕. I can't believe that something I wrote has hit _one thousand views_...!
> 
> I'm also going to apologize in advance about the word count of this story. No matter how I try to limit it, the characters just keep taking the strings of plot and sprinting...so I gave up fighting them 😂. I should tell you ahead of time that it's going to be _long_.
> 
> —

—

By the end of the school day, Grim had expended all of his energy. Yuu had noticed that classes ended rather early to accommodate for the incredibly strong extracurricular activities NRC boasted, but she guessed the extra action was a bit much for her partner, who was curled around her shoulders, snoring into her neck blissfully. Yuu sympathized with him—though she wasn’t tiny like Grim, she was a good deal smaller than most of the students she’d seen and not a match for the scarily muscled players who joined the sports teams. (Yuu still didn’t quite know what the huge field was for, but NRC seemed to be strong contenders of this sport in the league of magic schools in this world, second only to one other school called ‘RSA’ or something.)

The school castle was mostly empty now as students rushed to their respective clubs and dorms. Yuu’s comfortable leather shoes clicked on the stone steps and echoed up around the stairway as she left the school through the east entrance, which was a good deal closer to the botanical gardens (according to Ace). The castle was so big that Yuu felt as if she would never figure out where she was going—it didn’t have the false steps and trick rooms Hogwarts dished out in spades, but Yuu had already found one hidey-hole and one unbelievably useful shortcut out back that hinted at the bounty of secrets NRC hid. She squashed down that curiosity that always damned her.

Right now, Yuu’s first priority was to search for a way home, not to be distracted by this school. It was enough that she was allowing herself to tear through all of the books about magic in the library—at least then, she could make the excuse she was ‘looking’. Even though there was a dearth of material on the topic of space-travel, doing something was better than doing nothing.

If she were being honest with herself, Yuu wanted badly to explore, to dive into this world searching for all of its secrets. But she knew that she wasn’t supposed to be here, that it was dangerous for wizards to mess with space and time, that she needed to get back before something unravelled and sent them all spinning into the darkness.

And before that, she had to find gloves so she could pick chestnuts for the marron tarts they would be making today.

Yuu came across the botanical gardens relatively quickly. Of the comparatively smaller buildings scattered around the grounds (barring the seven dorms, which were acres away and usually accessed by those dreadful mirrors), the great glass dome of the gardens surprised her with its magnitude. It took Yuu ten minutes to pace around the perimeter after she arrived at its door.

Grim was unresponsive except for to push at her cheek with his paw when she tried to shake him awake. Though eager to share her discovery with her partner, Yuu decided to leave him be and pushed the glass door open noiselessly. When it shut behind her, the whistle of the wind outside, the distant cry of Vargas’ coaching, and the students’ cheers faded down to silence.

NRC’s botanical gardens were surprisingly temperate and dry—most likely maintained by magic. On one of their merry chases around the third floor of the castle (Grim shouting about tuna), Crowley had told her that he controlled the heat and cold within the dorms and the castle buildings, with the help of some workers, which shocked her to no end. Even for a great wizard like Albus P. W. B. Dumbledore, who had earned his place on a Chocolate Frog card, maintaining an extended heating and cooling spell over _one_ building was no small task—yet Crowley had brushed it off like it was nothing to control the temperature of the entire campus, a forgettable fact that neither he nor Grim seemed to find impressive.

Inside this miniature garden, the comfortable warmth in the glass house and Grim’s quiet rumbling breaths nearly lulled Yuu into a doze as she sunk into thought. She shook herself out of it and glanced around. Ace and Deuce said they’d perhaps arrive an hour later than her, so Yuu decided she could slack off a little and take a leisurely tour around the colourful conservatory.

Unlike Hogwarts’ seven rectangular greenhouses, this one had an unbelievably high ceiling and was by no means sorted out as neatly as Pomona Sprout would have liked it. In fact, it reminded her of a museum’s indoor tropical display; apart from a few stone bridges and a small, cobbled path looping into the lush multicoloured foliage, the only noise was a burbling of water. Bursts of bright flowers dangled from old chains; trees shaded her eyes, hung down by exotic fruit. The centre courtyard was clean and open and looked like an excellent spot for a picnic.

Yuu followed the murmuring of the stream hazily, captivated by the sweet scent of a bunch of blooming flowers whose name she didn’t know. Now that she was alone, her mind drifted. She wondered about the reason she was here, and of how powerful Crowley really was. Of why the villains from Dixney movies were so lauded. Of what Scarabia looked like. Of Lilia Vanrouge and why he had reminded her of something fey, of the line between Riddle’s elegant brows when he frowned, of Ace holding her tight over his shoulder as they ran out of the Dwarf Mines.

Of her absent father. Her oblivious mother. Hogwarts and its seething lake, Fred II’s huge grin as he told her he’d found a way into the Ravenclaw girl’s dorms, Norberta’s children who nestled under her arm, Charlie Weasley tackling her out of the way of a giant plume of flame that obliterated the building behind them. Scorpius Malfoy fighting back tears in her common room at 3 AM. Hiding under the dining tables in the Great Hall to surprise Albus with a birthday present. Auror-Professor Harry Potter crouching down before her to ask gently if she was okay—that she didn’t need to try so hard to pretend to be like everyone else. Meeting Hermione Granger from the law department for the first time, before she had become next-in-line for the Minister. Approaching the great pagoda of Mahoutokoro, being knocked off her Yajirushi again and again and again.

All of these reasons to return home, all of those reasons to stay. Yuu looked down at her thin fingers, at the invisible imprint of her long yew wand tucked safely up her sleeve. She felt empty. No desire to leave—no desire. Nothing.

Hogwarts was beautiful and blinding, but it was no more Yuu’s home than her pristine, unused room in County Durham was.

What did it matter? It was all meaningless.

Yet she needed to go back.

Grim snuffled on her shoulder and she started out of her thoughts. The foliage was unfamiliar—Yuu had stopped walking at some point and now she’d lost her bearings. As she started moving forwards again, Yuu watched the creature who was her current school partner press closer to her, ears twitching.

 _You’re my henchman_ , Grim had said, like it was the most natural thing in the world. _I trust you_ , Deuce had told her. Ace had held her hand without complaint.

Yuu’s chest felt a little funny. She supposed that right now, her reasons to stay exceeded her reasons to leave. Though it didn’t change her need to return, it still felt rather nice.

Her foot brushed something. Trained by years of remaining constantly vigilant in a greenhouse, where a Venomous Tentacula was prone to leaving its limbs prone in front of feet, she jerked backwards a step. But instead of a plant, her wary glance was met with a long, curled tail the colour of sunburnt grass.

—

**CHAPTER FOUR | The Red Ruler.**

—

Curiously, Yuu crouched down and poked the appendage, forgetting it may have been poisonous (or who knows what else). Where Grim’s tail was small and pronged in three, like a pitchfork, this larger tail was supple and silky, more than triple its length. The sandy colour was tipped with an unbelievably soft fuzz of dark brown.

After it lay in her palm for a few seconds (where she tugged at it, wondering what kind of animal it belonged to), the tail curled around her fingers slowly before retreating back through the grass on one side of the cobblestone.

Yuu stared in the direction it had gone, and without thinking much of it, followed it off the path into unchecked grass. She was careful to prevent too much pressure in her steps in case she crushed something—like the animal whose tail she had been holding like a fool a little while ago—but even Yuu wasn’t prepared to nearly stumble over a body lying under the shade of a huge leafy tree.

He was far bigger than her. She could only see the back of a goldenrod vest, but even that was large enough to stop her in her tracks. When she traced her gaze down, the tail was thumping slowly up and down against the thick bed of curated grass, sprouting from a dark pair of uniform pants.

Wait. What?

Yuu whipped her gaze back up to a great head of rich brown hair, the colour of melted Honeydukes chocolate in winter, but what had caught her gaze were the two matching brown velvet ears that flicked even as she stared.

Wait. _What?_

Poring through all of the Ministry of Magic records for magical creatures had revealed to Yuu the full scope of diverse and beautiful Magical Creatures that hid in plain sight within the Wizarding World. She’d read about everything from humanoid Veela to unfriendly merfolk to noble centaurs to giants and dragons and Lethifolds. This was her element—this was what she loved to study, and she had done so with gusto. Werewolves, in particular, had been researched in detail over the past several years as recent graduate Teddy Lupin had been a most cooperative resource and Hermione Granger was a force to be reckoned with even when she was in the Law department.

Yuu had seen her share of magical beings. Enough to make her realise how prideful humans were to assume themselves the pinnacle of civilization.

But.

The creatures—people—at this school were _nothing_ like anything she’d read. Yuu had been completely dumbfounded at the multitude of students possessing animal ears and tails (and often looked completely human otherwise) at NRC. She had absolutely no idea if it was just one of their forms, if they were born this way, if there were special qualifications…

And everyone laughed at her when she tried to ask, even Cater and Trey who knew she was from a different world. It seemed that the coexistence of many species (?) was common knowledge here.

Anyway, even with the brief explanation of Savanclaw’s students given at lunch yesterday, she could not get used to…whatever species this was. Because they were nothing she’d ever seen before.

It was so _interesting_!

Yuu only realized she’d lost herself in thought again when a deep, slow voice growled, “Oi.”

She blinked her eyes into focus. In place of the long curtain of lush hair, Yuu met two brilliant viridian eyes with hers, narrowed in a threatening glare.

The man, who’d turned without her noticing, spoke lethargically, the remnants of sleep still in his voice. “Just ’cause I didn’t say anything earlier, you sure have the guts to be doing whatever you want. Touching others’ tails and interrupting my nap…are you prepared for the consequences?”

Oops.

“Sorry,” Yuu winced remorsefully. “Um, I didn’t know it was your tail. It was in front of my foot so I just…”

“If you see something in front of your foot then you touch it right away?” when his eyes narrowed, she saw the remnants of a dark scar bisecting his left eyelid.

“You’re right,” she mumbled, chastened. “Sorry for bothering you…um, are you the caretaker of this garden, sir?”

“ _Aah_?” he blinked once. “The caretaker’s not around right now. You’re…ahh, aren’t you that herbivore who got told he had no magic by the Mirror at the opening ceremony?”

“Herbivore?” repeated Yuu dumbly. “I mean, I eat all sorts of meat, but I suppose you’re talking about me.”

“Hmm.” he narrowed his eyes. Much faster than she could perceive, he was sitting up, rising over her crouched form. Before Yuu could do more than gasp, the man pressed his nose to her head and sniffed.

Sniffed?

Yuu remained extremely still, just like she would if cornered by a dragon or another large creature, wondering how the hell Grim could stay asleep in a situation with a possibly aggressive fellow animal-like person in his face like this. The man sniffed her behind the ears, at the neck, and sniffed Grim for good measure. When he pulled back, he was wearing a magnificent glare.

“Oi.” This time his voice dragged against the ground so that Yuu went stock still and Grim grumbled in his sleep unhappily. “What the hell is the meaning of this?”

“Sorry?” she squeaked. “I’m pretty sure I don’t smell that bad. I take showers every day, you know? Even when the hot water doesn’t work.”

“That’s not what I mean.” The man ran a hand carelessly through his hair. Yuu absently wondered if he was a model—that move would have probably murdered a bunch of photographers—before he sighed and dragged her over with his tail. It was surprisingly strong as it curled around her leg.

Yuu yelped and hopped forwards gently. The man pointed at the grass beside him; she sat confusedly. “Is there something wrong?”

“First of all…what’s that smell on you? You really don’t have any magic…but there’s something _else_. Almost like that bastard Draconia…something…” the man shook his head sharply as if to dismiss his muttered thoughts. “No. That’s not important. Oi, herbivore. Don’t try to fool me. Why the hell do you smell like a female?”

—

Yuu was not a bad liar. She knew the best ways to fib: to speak the truth, to only omit what was not to one’s advantage, to maintain eye contact, to foster trust with the target.

But she was not a natural. Hadn’t been bred with falsehoods ingrained into her lifestyle, didn’t need to lie to overly strict parents daily, wasn’t forced undercover in a House she didn’t belong in. When Yuu lied, her heart sped up. When she was caught off guard, she felt sweat on her palms.

There was no way that a predator like this would overlook its prey.

Still—she tried. Yuu didn’t know this person, so she lied through her teeth. “…Because I have a female sibling,” she started.

The man laughed. “Your eyes darted to the right and your heart’s racing. I can hear your pulse in your jugular, herbivore. Do you really think lies can fool someone like me?”

“Who are you, anyway?” Yuu said rebelliously, frowning at him, “and who cares if I smell like—”

A black glove slammed into the dirt. Yuu’s world spun; it took her several seconds to realise she had been pinned to the ground. Grim tumbled off into the grass with a displeased grumble, and yet he was _still asleep_ —

“Oi,” the man growled at close range, “Watch the way you refer to me.”

“You shouldn’t manhandle people,” Yuu said shakily, heart racing, “it’s not very nice.”

“ _Nice_!” he barked a short laugh and narrowed those brilliant green eyes, baring two sharp canines in something close to a snarl. “I’m being nice enough by not tearing you to pieces right now. Try again, herbivore. Why do you smell female?”

Yuu tried again. “What, can I not have female family members anymore?” she responded coolly.

“Heh.” His left ear flicked once. “Not bad, but you’re sweating too hard for it to be convincing. Don’t underestimate my sense of smell. That scent is far too strong for it to be a family member you haven’t seen for a month.”

“Why does it matter to you, anyway?” she tried to struggle out from under this predator, but the tail wound around her leg tightened in warning.

“To me? It doesn’t matter at all. But to you…” the grin widened wickedly. “I wonder what Crowley would say if I dragged you before him telling him how a little _girl_ had snuck her way into an all-boy’s school. _Naa?_ ”

“Picking on the weak isn’t a very good hobby,” she returned calmly.

“Please. You call something as small as this picking on you? Picking on you would to be sinking my teeth into your skinny little neck the second you intruded on _my territory_.”

“I apologized for that,” Yuu said with a frown. “Um, first of all, how do you know I smell like anything at all?”

“…You don’t _know?_ ” The last word was spat out with distaste.

“I figured you would have known from the day of the opening ceremony that I have no idea what anything is around this place,” Yuu responded, making sure to stay still. “Do you have some sort of smelling magic or something that’s really strong? Unique Magic? Or something?”

“Are you an—obviously not,” he growled. “Everyone in our clan can do it. Don’t tell me you’ve never seen someone with animal ears before?”

“Before I came to this school? Obviously not,” she parroted flatly. “And I haven’t had the chance to ask anyone I know if those are real. Can I touch them?”

The man stared at her with half-lidded eyes, unimpressed.

“Sorry.” Yuu mumbled. “But honestly, whether I smell like a field of roses or a garbage dump, I really don’t see how it’s any of your business.”

“Ha. It looks like you really don’t fear for your life if you’re talking to me like this,” his lip peeled back to reveal a frighteningly sharp tooth. “You know, struggling only makes it harder for yourself. I’m not about to just let you go, herbivore.

“…It seems like we are at an impasse.”

“As if. I hold the power here, and you know it.” The man said slowly, as if savouring his victory. “Now hurry up and spit it out. I could just rip your throat out and be done with it.”

“You wouldn’t do that to someone who is here under the protection of the headmaster,” Yuu told him surely, “if you were smart.”

The smile disappeared from his face. “Spit it out, herbivore.”

“Please tell me your name.”

“…Huh?”

“I don’t know who you are,” Yuu told him, stretched out flat on her back with a man nearly twice her size blocking out the sky. But her voice didn’t shake as she continued, “it’s common sense not to talk to strangers.”

She was treated to the sight of a genuinely surprised expression that brightened his eyes before the man tipped over into a graceful slouch beside her and laughed freely. His voice rang out over the clearing and into the trees.

Yuu sat up gingerly, gathering Grim into her arms. He’d finally awoken at the loud noise—looking sleepily around him—but now that her secret was out (not that she’d been trying to hide anything), Yuu was all for him going back to his nap so he didn’t hear. She put his head against her neck and patted him behind the ears until he had been assured there was no threat around except for the chuckling man. Usually Grim would have made some comment about how it was loud and not to disturb his nap, but this time he went straight back to sleep.

It was probably a testament to how tired he was that Grim didn’t even ask her who this man was. It was also a stroke of luck. Yuu wondered if she’d sniffed Felix Felicis today. Or if there was some plant in here that was lulling him to sleep?

She gave him a questioning glance, but now was not the time.

“Leona.”

“Huh?” Yuu looked back in the direction of the stranger. Was he talking about the muggle singer?

“Leona Kingscholar.” He repeated, narrowing his eyes at her. “Third year, Savanaclaw dorm. Your turn.”

“Nice to meet you,” she tilted her head down in greeting. “…Sort of. My name is Yuu. I’m a first year from…er, Ramshackle Dorm, I suppose.”

“Amazing.” Leona said dryly. His voice brooked no argument. “Herbivore. You’re female, aren’t you?”

Yuu let out a long sigh. “If it helps, I had no idea this was a boy’s school until yesterday.”

Leona Kingscholar looked singularly bored as Yuu explained how she had come from a different world to this one—it was useless to try and continue lying to someone who had a lie detector in his nose, anyway. Still, his ears were pricked in her direction, so she explained at length that Crowley obviously hadn’t realized she was female when he employed her as an odd-jobs boy first, and then as a student later on. Yuu herself hadn’t been too concerned about her gender until yesterday, when it was revealed that the school didn’t have a single girl in it.

“But,” she stressed, “none of that matters. I’m figuring out a way to go home as soon as possible, and it’s counterintuitive now to reveal that I’m female. Not only would it create an unnecessary clamour, but this school’s library has a wealth of resources that I must be a student to access. Wouldn’t you agree that it’s a better idea to allow them to continue thinking I’m male as I figure out a way to return home and just…leave?”

Leona raised an eyebrow at her. “You think you won’t get found out? With that smell and that face?”

What face? Yuu shrugged. “I’m just not going to say it. People conform to expectations easily, so they’ll find some reason to accept why I couldn’t be a girl. I’ve been a student for almost a month and no other animal-ear students have asked me about it either.”

“Ha. That’s because their noses are useless.” Leona sighed and leaned forward. A long braid fell past his shoulder with the movement. “Refusing to consider any backup plans is foolish, no matter how much of an unhappy coincidence it is that you’re here.”

“You’re going to believe me now?” she asked sceptically, raising a brow at him, “when you didn’t believe me before, senpai?”

“You’re no longer lying, are you, herbivore?” he shot back. “If you had snuck in here as an agent trying to murder me or someone else, I would have ripped you to pieces, but you don’t seem to be that stupid.”

“Agent… _murder_?” repeated Yuu slowly. She gave him a strange look. “Why on earth would I try to murder someone like you who can tell if I’m lying?”

Leona’s throat rumbled; it took her a moment to realize he was laughing again. “Why indeed,” he said lowly. “Anyway, if you’re not gonna get in my way, it’s none of my business how you spend your time. Try your best not to get caught, herbivore.”

Yuu blinked several times in surprise. Despite his initial hostility, once she’d broken down and told him the truth, Leona seemed content to let her off. Perhaps it was the sheer confidence that he exuded from his pores or maybe it was the irreverent attitude, but she felt the tenseness in her shoulders relaxing. In some way, he reminded her of the Opaleye she’d taken care of while in Romania—unpredictable, but also beautiful and self-assured. Unlike the pale Opaleye dragon though, Leona was a rich shade of brown all over.

“Can I ask you a question?” Yuu cocked her head at him. “Is it possible to hide my smell?”

“…Huh? If you wear a strong scent you can hide it pretty effectively. Why?” Leona raised an elegant brow.

There really were only handsome people in Night Raven College. Yuu wondered if there was a requirement to be handsome in order to apply. She sighed. “Would you mind telling me any ways to get a strong scent on me?” she said resignedly. “I don’t have a single Madol right now since I came from a different world and would really appreciate it. In addition, I would also appreciate it if you didn’t tell everyone my gender.”

Leona sighed and grumbled, “Why do I have to…”

“You don’t have to,” Yuu said hastily. “It’s good enough that you’re not trying to blackmail or threaten me. But—”

“Ahh, shut—…I get it already.” Leona clicked his tongue loudly, carded his fingers through his hair, and started to undo his vest. “Listen, herbivore.”

“Yessir.” Why was he removing his vest?

“It’s just this once. Got it? You’re on your own afterwards. I don’t care if you’re a woman or not and I don’t care if that bastard Crowley is the one at fault or not. It’s not my problem.”

As he spoke, Leona shucked off his vest deftly, leaving only a poorly buttoned dress shirt underneath, and dropped it on her head.

Yuu gaped at him dumbly.

“Well?” he snapped, irritated. “Get outta—go do whatever you were doing. I’m going to take a nap.”

“Why do you keep changing what you were about to say?” she muttered. “Also, um, what am I supposed to do with this vest?”

“Are you a fool? … _Tch_. You were the one who asked for a way to hide that scent of yours. Until you go get something from the Mystery Shop, cover your head with that or something. Covering a scent with another is the easiest way.”

He was explaining it to her. Slowly. Despite his obvious poor mood—displayed in his sharply swishing tail and killer glare—Leona had caught himself after calling her a fool and rather patiently (compared to before) told her what to do.

“Leona-senpai,” Yuu said slowly from under the rather nice-smelling vest, “are you being nice to me because I’m female?”

“If you don’t want me to devour you right now, then get the hell out of here,” he growled, rolling onto the ground where she’d found him. Yet she noted carefully how he didn’t assert or deny her question, nor did he slam her against the ground a second time.

“Um, thank you.” She hastily stuffed the vest into her book bag and bent her head in gratitude. “That was really kind of you, senpai. Please don’t tell anyone.”

“Tell anyone what?” he drawled.

No one had treated Yuu any different because she was a girl, so this rather old-fashioned (?) gentlemanly behaviour of Leona’s confused her a little. Either way, it looked as if he wouldn’t have helped her if she was male (maybe would’ve actually bitten her) so she was grateful enough, she supposed. He’d insisted it wasn’t his problem and behaved generally as if he didn’t care—yet the vest sitting in her bag said otherwise.

Was it because this world was so intertwined with Dixney movies? The very epitome of princess movies? That girls were treated with the utmost respect—or at the very least, protected and nurtured and held so highly?

Yuu decided to take what she could get. This Leona seemed like a reasonable character, and she was the one who provoked him. Thinking back, she had been pretty rude…maybe it would be best to take back a slice of tart as an apology. He’d said he was a Savanaclaw resident, hadn’t he? Was using the Savanaclaw mirror permitted for all students? But she hated that mirror…Maybe she could ask Ace or Deuce to come with her.

Yuu dusted herself off, rearranged a snoring Grim—God, could this guy sleep—and sucked in a steadying breath, making sure her legs weren’t trembling. She’d never been very brave, but being cornered against the ground by someone so overtly threatening had been a little…a lot scary.

Perhaps thinking of him as a manticore would help with the fear? He was much smaller than a manticore.

“Leona-san!”

As she stood up and prepared to leave, a messy head of dirty blond hair popped into the clearing from between two trees. Yuu met eyes with the new arrival, both of them freezing in surprise.

“Uh…hello.” the new arrival’s big, wide ears flicked in her direction hesitantly. “Who’re you? What are you doing over here?”

“The herbivore was just leaving,” Leona grumbled.

“Right, I was just leaving.” Yuu smiled at the stranger. “I’m Yuu. Nice to meet you.”

“Yuu?” repeated the student, tilting his head and squinting his blue-grey eyes at her. Then he dismissed her with a flick of one big ear. “…Well, okay. Leona-san! Today’s a remedial day. I knew you’d be hiding here!”

“ _Haa…_ the annoying guy’s here already.” Leona groaned, pushing himself to his feet. Upright, he towered over her and, to a lesser extent, the new arrival. Yuu had to crane her head up to look at him.

“Leona-san, you’ve already repeated more than once. If you keep staying back a year, next year we’re gonna be in the same class, you know?” The student seemed to be quite friendly with Leona, enough to lecture him, at least.

“ _Aah_ , you’re so loud. Stop yapping, Ruggie.” Leona growled.

“’S not like I wanna be the one saying it! Geez. Even though you could do anything if you tried, why do you _never try…_ ” The one called Ruggie clapped his hands together briskly. “Where did your vest go? Weren’t you wearing it this morning? Anyway, c’mon, let’s go already.”

“ _Tch_ ……Hey. Watch out next time, herbivore. Try and work that tiny little brain of yours to try and keep from getting caught.” Leona spared a single glance in her direction. “I’m not taking any responsibility if you get kicked out.”

Yuu bobbed him an incline of the head. “Yes sir. Thank you for earlier, senpai. Um…sorry for disturbing your nap. I’ll pay you back.”

“Pay him back?” Ruggie squinted at her. “You acquainted with Leona-san?”

“I just met him. Senpai was giving me some advice.” Yuu lowered her head in a bow. “Well, I guess I’ll be leaving now. Umm. Ruggie-san? Goodbye.”

“O…okay?” Ruggie squinted as Yuu dove out of the clearing. “That kid smelled kind of strange. I don’t remember that smell…something sweet…hmm. Leona-san? What’s with that kid?”

“Hurry up. We’re going, Ruggie.”

“Heh!? Leona-san got up by himself! And seriously, where’d your damn vest go? You’ve got to stop leaving your clothes lying around. At least give ‘em to me if you don’t need them! Do you know how expensive…”

—

“You’ve been pretty quiet since we left,” Ace remarked on their way back to the kitchens. The three of them were covered in leaves and dirt from the impromptu leaf fight that had delayed their return a good twenty minutes during their chestnut-picking trip. “What’s up? Tired?”

She blinked at him as he waved a hand in front of her face. “Huh? Oh, just thinking.”

“Yuu always goes into his own world when he starts thinking,” Grim grumbled, having been shaken awake to help with the chestnut-picking. He rubbed at his stinging paws sorely.

“Something you’re worried about?” Deuce shifted the huge box in his arms. He was carrying most of the chestnuts like it was nothing, leaving Ace and Yuu to hold a smaller container each.

“Not really…” Yuu decided she’d ask them about it. “You know, after coming to this world, I haven’t seen a single girl.”

Ace snorted. “Yeah, to your eternal disappointment.”

“If a girl showed up here half the students would have a heart attack,” Deuce affirmed.

“What’s the societal position of women in this world?” she wanted to know. “In my world there was a pretty unpleasant historical gender imbalance, historically, anyway.”

“Are you an anthropologist or something?” Ace looked playfully disgusted. “You really are curious about everything.”

“Societal…huh?” Deuce squinted.

“Sometimes he starts babbling stuff like this,” Grim told him, “I don’t get it, either.”

“Women are treated well here, though?” Deuce said slowly. “Like, it’s the first rule in a bunch of countries. Don’t mistreat women. Only garbage disobeys that rule.”

“Whoa,” Yuu lifted her brows as they passed a gaggle of students jogging through the grounds. “The _first_ rule?”

“Well, yeah.” Ace shrugged. “I mean there used to be this problem where women were expected to be protected only. But you see that over half of the Seven Greats are women, right? They’re obviously as capable or whatever, so the whole treating them like breakable glass thing was scrapped a while ago. You’ve got those old-fashioned people who still do it, too…”

“Huh. There wasn’t like…discrimination in the workplace or preventing them from reaching the same position as men or anything?” Yuu asked interestedly.

“Nah. Maybe there would’ve been the opposite if some women in power didn’t put a stop to it. Like they say Twisted Wonderland is patriarchal, but it’s pretty much matriarchal.” Ace shrugged. “It’s just common sense to be kind to women, though. In one way or another, disrespecting them is pretty much unbelievably stupid and appalling. …Well, NRC might be different.”

“NRC might be different?” Yuu repeated slowly.

“This school’s an excellent school!” Deuce looked affronted.

“Sure, in terms of rankings and education and stuff.” Ace agreed. “But you know what kind of person goes to Night Raven College.”

“What kind?” Deuce asked dumbly.

“What kind?” Yuu parroted.

“…Never mind,” Ace sighed, glancing at her as they reached the back door. “I forgot I was talking with a bunch of morons.”

“Hey! I’m not a moron!” protested Grim, who hadn’t been listening. The three of them exchanged snorts.

Trey had explained to them at lunch that he often used the kitchens after school to bake sweets for Riddle’s parties. As vice Dorm Head, he had some privileges that other students didn’t—and one of them included unlimited access to school buildings like the huge kitchen behind the cafeteria. As long as he cleaned up after himself, no one seemed to care.

Thus, by the time the four of them arrived in the kitchens carrying well over three hundred chestnuts, Trey had already pushed a huge-looking tart crust into the huge-looking oven, two similarly loaded ovens burning beside it. He smiled over at them. “Welcome back. You guys sure picked up a lot.”

“We can make a _huge_ batch of tarts with this much!” forgetting his stinging paws, Grim spread his arms in excitement. His stomach growled.

“After we peel all of them,” Yuu monotoned. “By the way, senpai, I don’t see Cater-senpai around.”

“Ah, he said he had club activities,” Trey shrugged. “He’ll probably be back when we finish.”

“That guy’s only here to eat the frickin’ tart!” Ace growled. “Club activities should be over!”

Yuu set her book bag down and peeled chestnuts together with the other four at a massive table as the tart crusts browned in the oven slowly. She examined the kitchen while Trey taught Deuce and Grim how to use magic to peel the chestnuts while Ace muttered angrily about having to do them by hand.

These kitchens were strangely reminiscent of Hogwarts’ kitchens (which, of course, she had only accessed by tickling the poor pear in the portrait). Small arched windows peeked out to the grounds, but the rest of the walls were covered in hanging pots, pans, ladles, and other utensils. Surprisingly, the oven and stove seemed to run electrically (?), and there was even a dishwasher beside one of the long islands across which Trey had been working. Apart from a few barrels, though, all of the materials for food had been put away cleanly and the tiled floor shone under a dark green rug. The table they were gathered at was one of many spaced irregularly around the kitchen floor.

“Hey Yuu, pass me another box,” Ace rolled his shoulders with a yawn, dusting his fingers as he tossed a chestnut into the bowl.

“Here you go.” She pushed one over. “…Ace, you’re really good with your hands.”

“I’m good at everything,” Ace shrugged immodestly.

“I’m surprised Ace is so skilful,” Trey raised a brow behind his glasses. “Transfer, you’re doing quite well too. Careful not to hurt your fingers.”

“Okay.”

“As if I’ll lose to Ace!” Deuce clenched his fist. “Look at this technique!”

A flick of his Pen split a row of chestnut shells cleanly in half…and also split the chestnuts inside.

Grim rolled his eyes. “Watch me show you how it’s done.”

Three chestnuts flew into the air and cracked themselves open, only to scatter their contents all over the table messily.

“You sure are energetic even after peeling so many,” Trey laughed, sending the scattered chestnut pieces into a bowl deftly.

Yuu thought he really was the paragon of an upperclassman. Riddle would probably have been seething at the three troublemakers, but instead, Trey had just smiled and fixed the problem without difficulty. Her respect for him moved up another few notches.

After they’d finished peeling and straining the chestnuts, Ace and Deuce lay down at the table in exhaustion while Yuu, who hadn’t gone through club activities, helped Trey crush the nuts and start to whip the heavy cream together with butter and eggs.

“I’m so tired,” Ace mumbled with his face in the table.

“Ha ha. It’s been hard on you guys today. I’m sure the tart will taste great since you’ve worked so hard for it.” Trey laughed.

“Trey-senpai, you’re like a big brother,” Yuu commented, looking up from her mixing bowl. He was right—a fragrant scent was beginning to emanate from the oven in front of which where they were standing.

“That so? Oh, transfer. Tilt your face this way for a second. You’ve got cream on you,” Trey smilingly wiped a smudge of cream off her nose.

“Big brother,” she repeated. “So what do we do with this…”

“Marron paste.” Trey finished for her. “After you finish whisking it, we’ll add sugar, and at the very end some of the secret ingredient to finish it off.”

“Secret ingredient?” Grim muttered tiredly from her shoulder. “Like what?”

“The heaviness of oyster sauce added in an appropriate increment to the cream will make it taste a lot thicker,” Trey said, holding up a long bottle.

Yuu blinked. Ace and Deuce shot up from the table, spluttering “Oyster sauce!?”

“This Walrus Seal Young Oyster Sauce is used by famous pâtissiers for tarts all over the world.” Trey explained.

Yuu squinted at the dark bottle suspiciously. “…Um, if you say so, senpai.”

“Seriously…?” Deuce pressed a glove to his mouth. “Isn’t it a super salty sauce?”

“But you know…” Ace said slowly, “we do stick chocolate in curry to make it taste good…maybe it works?”

“What are you guys getting all up in arms about?” Grim squinted from her shoulder. “Who cares what goes in.”

“I don’t want to hear anything from a guy who eats rocks off the ground!” Ace shot back.

Trey’s grin twisted and to her surprise, he burst into laughter. “Ha ha ha! I was joking! There’s no way anyone would put oyster sauce into sweets!”

Ace slammed the table with a fist playfully. “What! I took you seriously!”

Trey’s laughter abated a little. “If you just thought about it for a second, you’d know it was obviously impossible. Don’t believe everything you hear so easily, all right?”

Ace grumbled something about acting like he was their caretaker.

“As if I know about what you guys put in your food,” Grim grumbled. “As long as it tastes good. Right, Yuu? …Yuu?”

“—Huh?” Yuu swung her head up to blink at him slowly.

“You okay?” Grim asked her in undertone. “You’re sweating.”

“Fine,” Yuu said a little shakily, “no problem.”

She was no natural liar, and Yuu was well aware that most people were obvious when they told a lie. Some tic could give them away. Otherwise, their smaller expressions and movements and scent could be detected by people like the unfriendly Leona-senpai.

But just now—Trey had told them a perfect lie. She’d been looking at him. His explanation had been reasonable, not an ounce of nerves colouring his voice, and his eyes hadn’t wavered once. Yuu wouldn’t call herself perfectly observant, but she’d grown up being taught to see the details in things, to paint them, to practice a song over and over again until she could sing it in the sweetest way.

She wasn’t a natural liar. But Trey Clover was.

Yuu wiped her sweaty hands on her sleeves and told herself she was thinking too much.

—

“Whoa…” Deuce paused in his tracks as they neared the school store. “This place looks…”

“Funky?” Yuu suggested, eyes narrowed against the bright purple entranceway of ‘Mister S’s Mystery Shop’. For a school store, it was huge, taking up its own brick building that was perhaps only outdone by the gardens. Crowley had told her he’d gotten her supplies from this place, but she had yet to enter.

After Trey realized he’d run out of eggs, he’d asked for volunteers to go grab the leftovers from the school shop, which according to him had ‘everything under the face of the sun…and then some’. Deuce had volunteered, looking a sight better than the exhausted Ace, and Yuu had hurried to raise her hand as well.

It wasn’t like she was afraid of Trey now. But Yuu needed some time to get her thoughts in order. Overthinking things was bad—underthinking things was even worse.

Grim had gamely followed her out for a few steps, but after he’d nearly fallen asleep at the entrance to Main Street, she’d held him in her arms to let him doze. Yuu was grateful for his warmth; it lent her a measure of comfort. She wondered briefly if she was becoming unhealthily attached to this small creature.

Deuce cracked open the door and poked his head in. “Excuse me…whoa, look at this place.”

Yuu ducked in under his shoulder. “Let me see.”

Mister S’s shop was indeed straight out of a mystery. Illuminated by a large hanging green lamp, the front room reminded her of an antique shop from a forgotten corner in a bustling city. Yet the piles of furniture looked dust-free and the walls crammed with paintings, busts, and cabinets were worn but clean.

Yuu’s fingers itched as she laid eyes on a piano. Deuce had taken a step in, gaping at the rows of jarred herbs on a shelf; Grim was peering into a huge crystal ball and making a face at his reflection. An open treasure chest overflowing with jewels and gold sparkled as she moved hesitantly inside.

An energetic jazz tune played softly from somewhere inside the room. Deuce, who was squinting over at the shelf, motioned her over. “Look at this. A crystal skull…all of these books on magic…is that a stuffed head?”

She wrenched her eyes from the piano and whistled. “I guess Trey-senpai wasn’t kidding when he said this place had everything under the sun.”

“Yeah, but are we really gonna find heavy cream _here_?” Grim said dubiously, returning to her shoulder.

“Hey!” from behind them, a loud voice overwhelmed the music; when they spun around, a dark-skinned man in a magenta suit was smiling at them with teeth. “How fare you, little lost demons?”

Grim yelped in reaction, instinctively pushing himself behind her ear.

“Welcome to Mister S’s Mystery Shop.” When she looked closer, she saw that his top had had a skull fastened to it and was tilted artfully over his short dreadlocks; also, the outlines of chalk-white bones had been painted over his night-dark skin, on his collar, on exposed arms and down into his pink shirt. The man in the shop narrowed his alluringly painted eyelids at them. “What are you looking for today? A charm from unexplored land? The mummy of an ancient king? Or perhaps, a cursed deck of tarot cards?”

“Are you the Mister S that Headmaster was talking about?” Yuu wanted to know as Deuce fished in his pockets for the shopping list Trey had given him.

“Ah!” he clasped his hands in delight. “You’re the little demon that became a Directing Student last month! It is my absolute delight to meet you. My name is Sam—please, call me Mister S.”

“Nice to meet you, Mister S,” she said, “My name is Yuu and this is Grim. We’re new here, so once I have the means to purchase things, I’ll probably be back.”

The first thing she wanted to get was some sort of scent to hide hers. After hearing about how respected women were here and seeing Leona-senpai’s change in attitude when he discovered her gender, she was eager _not_ to be known as a girl. Yuu was used to struggling through things and after what she’d heard about this world, she rather liked being “treated as a boy” compared to being held at arm’s length.

Besides, she didn’t want to see the reactions of the Heartslabyul students—of Ace, Deuce and Grim when they found out that she’d inadvertently lied to them.

Not when they were the first people who had not rejected her.

“Do you have canned tuna?!” Grim piped up, getting over his initial fear of the sudden appearance.

Yuu snapped out of her darkening thoughts with a blink.

“Oi!” Deuce cut in. “Sorry about him. Um, we need the things on this list, but I don’t know if you…”

“Let’s see here,” Sam received the scrap of paper elegantly. The bone-white paint on his cheekbones gleamed in the green light. “Heavy cream, eggs, aluminium cups, canned fruit…this is quite a _sweet_ line-up of items. Okay! I’ll get it for you right away.”

“Ooh,” Deuce emitted, impressed, as Sam dove back behind a curtain. “He really does have them.”

“I wonder if he’s hiring,” Yuu mumbled. “Um, Mister S! Are you hiring?”

“I’m afraid that this is a one-man business, little demon!” Sam’s muffled voice returned from somewhere behind the curtain. “Unfortunately, I can’t afford to let my trade secrets leak, if you know what I’m saying.”

“Darn,” she sighed.

“What’s up, Yuu. Are you looking for a job or something?” Deuce peered down at her with a frown.

“I mean, I have not a single Madol to my name,” she explained as Sam started to carry plastic-bagged items out to the old-fashioned register at a table. “You know, seeing where I came from.”

“Ah.” Deuce guessed with a serious nod. “I’ll tell you if I find any places that are hiring. I don’t know if this school allows off-campus jobs, but if things get real bad I can lend you a little money.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Yuu thumped him gently on the arm, “I refuse to take money from you. Plus, I’m not in a school club, so a part-time job will be good for me too.”

“Thanks for waiting, little demons,” Sam finished carrying the bags out and dusted off his white gloves with a flourish. “The bags are quite heavy. Can you two carry them without trouble? —Right! Now! I can include a floating model UFO at one one-hundredth of its actual size for thirty percent off!”

“What the heck is that?!” Grim blurted out, amazed. “I want it!”

“No thank you!” Deuce shouted over him, handing over Trey’s wallet, “that will be all today.”

“Come on!” Grim thumped his little paws on her shoulder. “I wanna play here for a while longer!”

“Are you a little baby?” Yuu asked him dryly as they left to Sam’s energetic farewell, sweeping up the heavy bag of canned fruit into her arms.

“You two are too serious!” Grim protested, yawning. “…Wake me up when we get back.”

Deuce noticed her struggling as they approached Main Street and paused. “Here, Yuu. That bag looks heavy. I’ll hold it. There’s a trick to holding heavy bags.”

“Thanks,” Yuu said gratefully, accepting the bag of aluminium cups, eggs and butter in exchange. “If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m not exactly the most athletic of people.”

“Everyone has things they’re good at,” he said dismissively, hauling up the bag like it was nothing. Deuce’s smile was softened by the sinking sun as he told her, “Your quick thinking and kindness have saved me and Ace a bunch of times already. Not to mention Grim. You should be proud of yourself.”

Yuu beamed shyly back at him. “Thanks,” she said, “I think you’re pretty kind yourself. And you’re stronger than any one of us. Are you used to getting groceries?”

“You have no idea,” he grimaced. “I come from the Kingdom of Roses and our stores have timed sales all the time.”

“Oh, we have those where I came from too,” Yuu remembered the hellish rush for vegetables at grocery store’s timed sale in Japan. “It’s…a warzone.”

“You understand.” Deuce nodded. “My mother always stuffs everything she can into the shopping basket, so in the end the bags get crazy heavy. And since I was the only male in our family, all of the power work fell to me.”

“Women really are treated well,” Yuu mumbled. “Good thing Leona-senpai didn’t tell on me.”

“What?” Deuce blinked and rubbed his head sheepishly when she shook her head with a smile. “Sorry, I talked too much. Hope it wasn’t boring.”

“As if. I want to know more about you,” Yuu told him, her eyes shining. “And this world! We’re buddies, right?”

Deuce laughed. “There’s nothing really interesting to know. But it’s the first time I’ve seen you directing that expression at me. Usually you only look that excited when your face is in a book.”

“It’s not so much that I love reading as…” Yuu shrugged. “I’m an avid seeker of knowledge, I guess. Back in my boarding school, we also get sorted into dorms, but my dorm is characterized literally by the intelligence and knowledge of its founder. I think that intelligence is overrated, but I love learning new things.”

“I know,” Deuce said wryly. “You were at a boarding school?”

“Yep, it starts at age eleven and goes all the way up to seventeen or eighteen. I was just beginning my fifth year,” Yuu told him.

Deuce was quiet for a moment as they walked. “…Hey, Yuu. Do you miss it?”

“Hmm?” Yuu squinted at the falling sun.

“The…” he sounded unusually hesitant. Deuce, who typically talked and moved before he thought, cleared his throat and managed, “you know you’re finding a way home, right? I bet you really miss the place you were at before.”

“Oh, my school and my home? I mean…” Yuu was the one to hesitate this time. “Actually, not—not that much. To be honest.”

She would have nodded the rehearsed ‘yes’—but she’d remembered Deuce telling her he trusted her, way back in the Mines on Dwarf Mountain a few weeks ago. So Yuu told him the truth in a stammer.

“Really?” Deuce frowned and peered into her face. “Not your family? Friends?”

“My family’s great,” she said tensely, nervous about peeling back her defences a little, “but I haven’t really spent much time with them. And I’m not really ah…the type to make friends. You know. Like Trey-senpai said about Ignihyde, I’m one of those gloomy characters or something.”

“Are you kidding? You’re one of the best people I even know,” Deuce looked at her like she was insane. “Plus we’re friends, you moron.”

Yuu smiled helplessly at him. “Yeah. I know. You and Ace are…the best friends I’ve ever had.”

“…Then don’t—” Deuce caught himself and stared down.

“Deuce?” she prompted, but at his silence, tactfully cast around for another topic, “Umm. You’re pretty great yourself, helping out your mother with the groceries.”

On the contrary, Deuce’s brows sunk even lower down over his eyes so that his face was cast in shadow. “That’s not it at all. I—my mother…”

Yuu caught the change in personal pronoun from the politer _boku_ to the rougher _ore_ with a frown. Deuce usually tried to be polite and a ‘model student’—which he sometimes succeeded at, if one discounted the fact that he understood nothing of what was going on in class—but she could catch him grumbling something violent under his breath on occasion. Like now, Deuce changed his speaking style when he was unhappy, making her wonder.

Someone jostled her shoulder painfully, sending Yuu staggering into Deuce’s side with a yelp. Her fingers tightened on the bag in her arms and crunched.

“Ah!” Yuu gasped, “I broke an egg! Two!”

“Whoa!” Deuce caught her with one hand, steadying her before she crashed against the ground. “Are you okay, Yuu?”

“—Damn, watch where you’re going,” the person who’d bumped into her growled. When she looked back, she recognized the scarlet Heartslabyul armband and Pen. “…Hey, aren’t you the wimpy new kid at lunch who keeps throwing his weight around?”

“Huh? Who are you?” Yuu squinted.

“That’s the bastard who tried to trip you!” Deuce growled.

“Oi, oi, you again?” a second Heartslabyul student joined the first, arms crossed. “Seriously, first you almost ruin our lunch and now crash into us for no reason? Get a hold of yourself, kid, geez.”

“The one who crashed into him was you,” Deuce said quietly, “Senpai.”

Yuu was impressed. She had no idea these people were second years, but Deuce seemed to know who they were. He was much better at these social things than she was.

“Aaah?” the alleged upperclassman leaned forward threateningly, seeming to have noticed Deuce for the first time. “What’cha doing with _this_ guy, firstie? You sayin’ this is all our fault?”

“Yes.” Deuce didn’t even pause. “Please pay us back for the eggs. Also, apologize to the chicken.”

Yuu slapped a hand over her mouth, nearly dropping the eggs again, to stifle her unexpected giggles.

“Huh? You’re making way too big of a deal for a couple eggs,” the second student leaned in with a sneer. “Not like it’s fallen on the ground, so you can still eat it, right? Don’t be so sensitive. You’ll end up like that tiny kid beside you.”

Deuce’s voice dropped an octave, stopping Yuu’s laughter abruptly. “ _Aah?_ ”

There it was again. That unexplainable edge of violence to his voice that she sometimes detected. Ace tended to poke fun at it, but there were times that she felt the thin thread of Deuce’s goodwill fray. This was one of those times. When she dared to peek up into his face, the coldness of his usually gentle aquamarine eyes could freeze water.

The upperclassmen didn’t seem to notice. “Hey, we even saved you the trouble of crackin’ ‘em! You should thank us!”

The two of them burst into crude laughter.

Yuu nervously pulled at Deuce’s sleeve. “Uh…hey. Don’t worry about them, they’re just dumb and…”

“…king laugh.”

Grim woke up with a start. “What’s with this violent atmosphere?!” he hissed, fur standing on end, “Someone smells like they’re gonna kill someone else!”

Yuu sighed, gathered the heavy bag of fruit cans as Deuce dropped them, and retreated to the side. “I think we’re finally going to see what happens when Deuce gets angry.”

“Ah? What’s wrong with this guy?” one of the upperclassmen sneered over at Deuce, who’d bent down.

But a second later her friend lunged forwards, pupils dilating as his lips pulled back from his teeth in a snarl. “I said stop f*cking laughing. _Aaah?_ You’re not the bastards who get to decide if a couple’a eggs is a big deal or not!”

“Holy…” Grim gaped. “He finally snapped!”

“A moment of silence for Deuce’s sanity,” she put her hands together.

“You know those eggs?” Deuce had gotten right up in the upperclassmen’s faces, an unearthly light shining in his eyes. “Instead of becoming healthy little chicks, they were gonna become delicious tarts. _Get it, shitheads?_ Huh?”

“Wh-what’s with this guy all of a sudden?!” one of the students jerked back, clearly taken off guard.

Deuce cracked his knuckles under his gloves, rolling his neck threateningly. Yuu flinched at the cracks. “One pack of six eggs,” his low voice gained the same guttural edge that it had back when he’d nearly punched Ace in the Dwarf Mines. “If you don’t replace ‘em then I’ll land six shots in you bastard’s faces.”

“What!?”

“Grit your damn teeth _goraa!_ ”

“It was only two eggs I broke,” she said weakly, but Yuu didn’t look away as Deuce’s first punch sent an upperclassman flying.

—

“I am never ever going to get Deuce angry ever again,” Grim said weakly. His tail was still standing straight up in caution.

Briefly she wondered why he’d been able to sleep through Leona’s similarly bad mood despite being startled awake here. Perhaps Leona hadn’t really been trying to murder her? Or perhaps Grim had been too tired to detect it.

Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that—now was the time to be feeling sorry for the poor fools who had challenged her friend.

Yuu watched with fascination as Deuce spat on the ground. The two pitiful upperclassmen were running in the opposite direction, screaming about how he was even crazier than the rest of them.

“That was way more than six punches!” one wailed.

“I’m sorry Mister Chicken!” the other sobbed.

“Hmph.” Deuce tossed the wallet of one of the retreating upperclassmen up and down in his fist, unimpressed. “The next time you eat eggs, apologize a hundred times before you open your damn mouths! You imbeciles!”

Yuu whistled. “He’s got a mouth on him. It’s not even at the level of what Ace calls ‘delinquent vocabulary’ anymore.”

Deuce was breathing deeply. Yuu stumbled forwards with the heavy bags and set them down beside him, unable to stand the weight anymore. “Er…You okay?” she said tentatively.

His unfocused eyes snapped to attention before he bent over. “…ugh!”

“Did they get you!?” Yuu exclaimed, worried.

“—I…I did it again.” Deuce shut his eyes and pressed the heel of his palm against his forehead. “Even though I swore I was going to be a model student this time…!”

“Deuce?” Yuu peered into his face worriedly.

Deuce lowered his head and it knocked into her shoulder; he barely seemed to notice, consumed in self-deprecation. “…In middle school,” his voice had lost its violent edge, “I was a problem kid. Around your age, I guess.”

Grim and Yuu fell silent, though the former moved to her unoccupied shoulder. He was still a little wary of Deuce after what he’d just seen.

Yuu wondered absently what country this NRC was located in—she had been sure it was a mix of England’s atmosphere with the language and culture of Japan, but ‘middle-school’ made her think American. Come to think of it, this school was a four-year high school too, which didn’t exist in Japan. The ages were definitely bumped up a year, though, like Japan’s.

“I meant it when I said you’re a great guy,” Deuce let out a short laugh, his face hidden by her shoulder. “Around this time last year, I was skipping school all the time—getting into fights morning, day and night. You’re a lot better than I was.”

Yuu sensed this wasn’t the time for her to talk, and Grim remained mercifully silent. Instead she stood in the middle of Main Street with bags scattered around her feet, supporting Deuce’s head as he spoke.

“I called my teachers by name,” Deuce listed. “I hung out with the wrong upperclassmen crowd. Hell…I bleached my hair ridiculously white.”

“Seriously? I can’t imagine a blond Deuce for the life of me,” Yuu said, unable to resist a giggle.

“It looked terrible on me anyway. But I didn’t care.” A small smile had crept into his voice. “I even challenged cliffs with my Magical Wheel.”

Yuu decided now was not the time to ask what a magical wheel was.

“I was an unbelievable…bad guy,” Deuce sighed, “who got his kicks dunking on people who couldn’t use magic by using magic on them.”

“That’s a pretty standard delinquent template we don’t see much nowadays,” Grim sounded rather impressed.

Yuu patted Deuce’s shoulder, refraining from commenting that she had been more or less aware of the roiling violence bubbling beneath his model student exterior. She hadn’t said anything because she could see that Deuce was nothing like the ‘bad guy’ he was painting himself as. Sure, he was quick to fight and tended to default to the Hammurabi code, but he was also the boy who got angry for her, who told her he trusted her, who had said he was her friend.

As if to prove her thoughts correct, Deuce continued lowly, “But one night. I caught a glimpse of my mother crying as she called my grandmother. ‘Was it my fault for raising him wrong’, ‘was it because I raised him all by myself’, she was saying. Even though that wasn’t true. There was nothing wrong with my mom—the problem was all me!”

“Deuce,” Yuu’s chest squeezed at the pain in his voice.

“…So when the carriage from the famous NRC arrived at my door, I decided I’d never make my mother cry like that again. Not when she was so proud of me as I left.” Deuce gritted his teeth. “I’d decided I’d be the model student she could be proud of. ……And look at me now. Dammit!”

“Is keeping your head down in the face of those morons what a model student does?” Grim asked him.

“…Huh?” Deuce finally looked up.

“Deuce, you’re not a bad guy at all,” Yuu told him surely. “A stereotypical bad guy doesn’t do things for the sake of others, doesn’t worry and regret over his actions like you do. Just then, the ones who were obviously in the wrong were the other party, which you knew, and you didn’t punch them until they displayed an obviously unrepentant demeanour. Right?”

“…So? In the end I still socked them.” Deuce replied sullenly.

“Um, do you think that letting yourself be pushed around and bullied and watching the same thing happen to others is what would make your mother proud?” Yuu asked him. “That guy shoved me. Right? Indirectly, you saved me just now.”

“…Yuu…” Deuce looked at her, surprised.

“To be honest, I don’t understand your desire to make your mother proud. Nor do I understand why your mother would be crying over your behaviour,” Yuu shrugged, “since I’ve never really had those experiences. But your mom seems like a swell lady, so I’m sure that seeing her son save another student would make her far prouder than you trying to be a model student and letting it pass.”

“Plus,” Grim added cheekily, “if you didn’t punch him, I was gonna do it.”

Yuu rolled her eyes. “All right, I’ll admit it was hilarious when he actually apologized to the chicken.”

Faced with the two of them grinning at him, Deuce’s gloomy expression broke into a small, embarrassed smile that she’d never seen him make before. “…That so…heh heh. I guess the poor little egg can rest in peace in that case.”

Yuu winced. “…Um…Deuce…this is kinda hard to say in this situation, but that egg is unfertilised, you know.”

“Unfertilised?” Deuce repeated dumbly.

“Yeah…you know…most eggs that hens lay aren’t alive, especially for use in food and stuff…so…I thought you should know.” Yuu scratched her head awkwardly. “Um, so don’t feel bad.”

Deuce’s shocked yell echoed over the rooftops and scattered a flock of ravens into the air.

—

Spelling the whipped cream up on the tarts was simpler than expected, although Deuce looked like his soul was ready to depart from his mouth. Ace gave her a look that read, ‘what the hell is wrong with him?’ but Yuu shook her head to get Ace to leave him alone. Deuce was an emotional teenager going through puberty and mostly the shock of believing the eggs he’d eaten his whole life were murdered baby birds.

She wondered what it said about him that he loved eating eggs the most even when he had been under the impression that he was eating dead baby birds every time.

The filled tarts that came out of the ovens were truly large and the bowl of whipped cream—which she tasted to make sure there was no oyster sauce included—wonderfully full. Yuu sat back with Ace at the table and watched Grim, Deuce, and mostly Trey send enchanted curls of cream out of the bowl onto the tops. As a finishing touch, Grim dolloped a large serving of sugared, crushed chestnuts atop each tart, or what Trey called ‘marron glacé’.

“God, I’m hungry,” Ace moaned, “it smells so good, but my arms hurt. Hey Yuu. Can you feed me once it comes out?”

“Are you a little baby?” she monotoned for the second time that day.

“You didn’t say no,” he gave her a cheeky grin. “C’mon, ol’ buddy, ol’ pal.”

Trey finished sprinkling the confectioner’s sugar over the tops of the tarts and put one on the table where they were sitting. “All right! We’re done.”

“We’re done!” chorused Ace, Grim, and Yuu.

“…done…” Deuce echoed dully.

Ace jerked a finger at his friend. “What _happened_ to this guy while you guys went shopping?”

“We should leave him,” she said wisely, “it’s just the baby bird shock.”

“Everything that I’ve believed for sixteen years has been a lie,” Deuce muttered to himself.

Grim stifled a snicker.

“You’ll feel better when you eat something sweet,” Yuu tried, patting the seat beside her. Deuce flopped down on it rather despondently.

“Good work, everyone! Oh, and you’ve finished the tarts? The decoration looks real cute!” Cater popped his head in the kitchen, taking a whiff. “Mm! And it looks ready for MagiCam already! Lemme take a shot.”

“Agh!” Ace glared at him. “You’re just here for the food!”

“I wanted to check on my cute underclassmen since they were working so hard,” Cater didn’t take offence and shot him a wink. “Ah ha, you look exhausted!”

“When you do stuff you’re not used to, it’s easy to get tired. Which means it’s time for sweets.” Trey plated several slices and set them in front of each one of them. “It tastes best fresh and the makers get first slices. C’mon, dig in!”

“Thank you for the food,” Yuu said, her voice overwhelmed by Cater’s, Grim’s and Ace’s synchronized cheer.

“It looks so good,” Grim salivated, “the chestnuts on top are shiny and the cream is fluffy and it smells _delicious_ and I’m going to eat ten slices.”

Yuu finished half of her slice quickly, having been hungrier than she expected. True to Cater’s word—Trey was an excellent cook. The cream was made with an expert’s touch and the marron paste lacked the overly sweet flavour store-bought tarts often had. She wasn’t the biggest fan of chestnuts, but Yuu decided she could eat this all day.

“Trey-senpai,” she told him seriously as the people around her made various noises of delight, “if you opened up a tart shop, I would be your customer every day until I die.”

Trey laughed from across the table, leaning his head on one hand. “High praise.”

Ace had wolfed down his slice fast and was now staring at hers hungrily. Yuu sighed and shoved her laden fork in his mouth obligingly. “Just a little, you hear?”

“Mmm!”

“Delish!” Cater said, having only taken the corner of the crust. He put a finger up, eyes brightening. “Oh yeah, Trey-kun. Do that thing!”

“That thing?” Trey blinked and grinned. “Oh, you mean that. Hey, you guys. What kinds of food d’you like to eat the most?”

Yuu, who was irrationally hesitant on giving Trey information now, didn’t answer right away. Grim jumped in her place. “Canned tuna! And omelette du fromage and roasted meat and pudding and—”

“That’s enough,” she said dryly.

“I guess I like cherry pies,” Ace shrugged, “and hamburgers.”

“If I had to pick, I’d say omelettes…or omelette rice, maybe?” Deuce looked like he’d recovered a little after eating his slice.

“Oh, me!” Cater grinned, “I like grilled lamb meat with Diablo Sauce on it.”

Trey turned to her.

Yuu thought for a moment. “Um…this tart,” she mumbled.

“Huh?” Ace blinked. “You really liked it that much?”

“No, it’s just…” Yuu struggled with her words briefly. “I’ve never really considered food very tasty until I came here.”

“What, with all your gourmet snobbery?”

“It’s different from being able to taste ingredients,” she tried.

“Was the food in your old world disgustingly bad or something?” Grim asked with his usual lack of delicacy.

“No, I think it tasted the same,” she shrugged, “it’s just that I didn’t feel anything was ‘delicious’ until eating together with you guys in the cafeteria. So I guess everything we’ve had so far from the cafeteria is what I like.”

“Yuu…isn’t that—” Ace started with a strange furrow of the brow.

“Yuu,” Deuce looked moved.

“Oh! You mean like yesterday’s mushroom soup? That was real good, wasn’t it?” Cater cut in, giving her a dazzling smile.

Yuu smiled back at him. “Yeah. Then I guess that mushroom soup is my pick.”

Trey waved his Pen and sent new slices flying into their dishes except Cater’s, which was mostly untouched. “All right, here we go. _Doodle Suit!_ ”

Yuu blinked as her slice sparkled. Deuce asked, “What happened?”

“Try another mouthful,” Trey encouraged in lieu of an answer.

Obediently, Yuu sliced off a piece with her fork and stuffed it in her mouth. She felt the cream melt and the texture of the chestnuts against her tongue. Yet the flavour that burst in her mouth was the unmistakable seafood base of the mushroom soup she’d enjoyed a couple of days ago. Carefully trying another bite, Yuu discovered that this one tasted like one of the fleshy mushrooms in the soup. Another one, carrot and potato.

As Yuu experimented slowly, Trey explained to a similarly impressed audience that his own Unique Magic was the ability to change an attribute of an object for a short amount of time by ‘overwriting it’ with something else. He often used it with foods, but it worked just as well with colours, smells, et cetera.

“It doesn’t last very long, so it’s more like graffiti than anything,” Trey was quick to shrug it off as the first years stared at him with impressed gazes. “That’s why I called it a ‘doodle’ suit. Its other name is ‘Paint the Roses’.”

“Don’t you think it’s cool? I bet this Unique Magic would be popular with the girls,” Cater told them with a grin, digging into his Doodled tart in earnest.

“Which means with Trey’s Unique Magic… I can eat as much canned tuna as I want!?” Grim gasped.

Yuu finished her mushroom soup tart and tried not to feel nervous. In her opinion, this Unique Magic was far more dangerous than Riddle’s _Off with Your Head_. Trey could overwrite any attribute of an object—smell, taste, touch, even what something looked like—maybe even some attributes she hadn’t noticed yet. Wasn’t this a perfect spell for a perfect crime? A perfect lie? What’s to say that he hadn’t already altered the taste of the tart, or altered the scene she was seeing right now, or altered what was in his wallet to ‘look’ like real money?

“This spell is way cooler than that bully Riddle’s!” Grim was cheering.

Yuu felt a cold sweat break out on her palms. It was, indeed, far more dangerous—a far greater piece of magic than Riddle’s seemed to be. Invisible, undetectable.

Trey shook his head solemnly, to everyone’s surprise. “Not at all. My magic is child’s play compared to the Dorm Head’s. The entire level is different.”

The strength behind that statement made her raise her eyebrows. He sounded like he really meant it. Or wanted to mean it, at least. Either way, Trey did not seem proud of his Unique Magic at all.

By the time the tarts were placed in the fridge in advance of tomorrow’s Unbirthday party, the sun had set outside and the three first years, plus Grim, were completely tuckered out.

Cater laughed at the three of them leaning on each other, half-asleep. “For first-year strangers who met half a month ago, you three sure are close.”

“Huh?” Ace gave Deuce a disgusted glance. “Like I’m close with _him_.”

“There’s no way I’d want to interact with _you_.” Deuce shot back.

“You guys staying over tonight?” Yuu yawned, adjusting a snoring Grim in her arms. “Ace still can’t enter his dorm, right?”

“Me too?” Deuce seemed a little surprised.

“Yeah?” Yuu looked askance at him. “Oh, if you’re worried about Ramshackle, it’s okay. I took the room with the king-sized bed so we should all fit with room to spare.”

“You don’t have to come,” Ace said spitefully.

“If you’re going, I’m going,” Deuce shot back, “stop taking advantage of Yuu just ‘cause he likes you.”

“That can apply to yourself you know.” Ace gave him an unimpressed glance.

“All right, all right, you three. I’ll give permission as the vice head for you guys to stay at the Transfer’s dorm,” Trey said good-naturedly, “just don’t be late for the party tomorrow.”

“Me too! Me too!” Cater waved an arm. “I wanna go stay at Ramshackle with the firsties. Hey, Yuu, you don’t mind, do you?”

“Huh? Well, no—”

“Not you, Cater,” Trey raised an eyebrow. “You’ve got stuff to do, right?”

“Aw, no fun,” Cater stuck out his lower lip.

Trey laughed, every inch the perfect big brother as he ruffled their hair. “I’m entrusting these two idiots to you, Transfer. See you guys tomorrow, all right?”

—

Yuu opened her eyes to the ceiling of her room in Ramshackle. She had been dreaming quite vividly of the Queen of Hearts pointing her spectre at a row of trump cards bent before her. Someone had dragged one of them away struggling as he sobbed for mercy, but the Queen merely stared coldly at him until he disappeared.

“I can’t eat anymore,” Grim’s muffled voice came from somewhere around her foot. “No…nooo…”

Letting the dream go, Yuu rolled her eyes and made to sit up, but the heavy weight on her stomach sent her falling back on the pillow before she could manage more than a few inches.

She looked down and found a mass of brownish red hair on top of her stomach. How was Ace breathing with his head down? It was a good thing she had her vest on under the nightgown or he might have rolled over into her chest and figured out she was a girl right away.

Yuu scanned the area around her for Deuce’s head, but when she turned to her side she came face to face with a large foot and a scattered pile of cards. Remembering how Grim had failed miserably at his first few games of Old Maid made her tremble with remembered laughter.

The movement made Ace turn in his sleep. “Pillow,” he mumbled. “…Why is this pillow making noise?”

“It’s my stomach, you buffoon,” Yuu rolled her eyes.

Neither she nor Ace (not to mention Grim) were morning people, but Deuce sat up with nothing more than a yawn and a “Time to get ready” to the three of them. While the two of them got dressed, Yuu went and washed up, surreptitiously changing into her usual clothing with the addition of the Savanaclaw vest she’d begged off of Leona-senpai yesterday over her shirt. It really did smell very nice, good enough to mask any scent that she might have had. Was it a rule that handsome people also smelled nice? Yuu decided anything went in this rather fantasy world.

Grim told her she smelled weird and that he didn’t like it, but with the bustle of the morning he forgot quickly, excited for the day’s events to come.

It was a weekend, but they were all alert early, since the Unbirthday party started at breakfast time. As Ace grumbled to himself, gathering the cards they’d scattered all over the floor after remembering his Pen didn’t work, and Deuce swished his to make her bed neatly, Yuu heard a playful knock on her door and hopped downstairs to answer it.

“Good mo~rning!” Cater poked his head inside with a smile. “Happy Unbirthday, Yuu-chan. Did you guys have fun last night enjoying your youth?”

Yuu snorted. “Sure we did. Though none of us really slept. You look like you’ve just been through an all-nighter too, Cater-senpai.”

Cater yawned in an exaggerated manner. “Got too excited for today!” he said cheerfully.

“Hell yeah.” Ace popped up from behind her. “Today’s the day I get this damn collar off once and for all.”

As they made their way over to the hall of mirrors, Ace and Yuu regaled Cater with stories of just how bad Grim was at Old Maid, of how Deuce slept upside down with his feet on the pillow, of when a ghost had popped out of the washroom mirror and made Ace scream like a little girl. This time, Yuu clutched Cater like a lifeline as they passed through the mirror, because he was the tallest one in the group and she’d seen how he could fight yesterday. Cater let her hang onto him with good grace, though he did snap a picture of her head hidden in his shoulder for MagiCam.

Three more Caters greeted them at the entrance to Heartslabyul’s rose maze. “Hey! You’re finally here. I was waiting, Mister Me!”

“Mister Me?!” Yuu let go of Cater in surprise. “…It’s that spell you were using a couple of days ago during the fight. The one that multiplies you.”

“Ca-Cater-senpai,” Deuce gasped, “You were a twin?”

“There are two of him!” Grim was startled out of his light snooze.

“No, no, I’m the only guy out of my siblings,” Cater shot them a peace sign. “This is my Unique Magic! I call it Split Card, or ‘Dancing Card Shower’. I can make copies of myself!”

“Welcome back!” Another Cater ducked out in the robes from the opening ceremony.

“Hey, hey!” Cater in the alchemy lab coat and goggles waved at them. “Welcome, Yuu-chan!”

“Thanks to you we finished earlier than I expected!” Cater in gym clothes sent her a wink. “By the way, I’m the real Cater. Using my UM takes a ton of energy so usually my other selves don’t last long. Anyway, we gotta get you in costume so stay still for a second!”

“Thanks to me?” Yuu wrinkled her brow. She was still marvelling about having hung on to a ‘copy’ of Cater who had all the warmth, strength and physical presence of the real thing.

“You painted all those roses, didn’t you?” Ace reminded her.

The four of them stood still as Cater dismissed his clones and drew his pen. Without much difficulty, he had transformed their clothing into fancy white dress attire. The ribbon she’d tied to Grim’s collar had been brightened into a huge red, white and black-checked bow. Ace, Deuce and Yuu were outfitted in bright white glossy fabric, yellow-striped belts tied artfully at the waists of their pale dress pants. Yuu had to get Cater to shrink the practical croquet shoes several sizes before she was able to walk without them falling off.

Grim whistled as he examined the glossy Ace of Hearts card pinned to Ace’s rose boutonniere. “Dang, did you design this?” he asked Cater.

Deuce fiddled with the black vest under the suit jacket. “Amazing,” he said, awed, “that was one hell of a magic spell.”

“We look pretty damn cool,” Ace ran his hands through his hair a few times, undoing a button and generally showing off.

“How’s this?” Cater shrunk her shoes another few centimetres.

“Not bad?” Yuu hopped up and down, her pure white suit flapping a little. “I feel like a groom at a wedding without the checks and hearts on mine.”

“Pfft! You’re too cute to be a groom,” Cater laughed at her. “I kept your design white since you’re from Ramshackle. I think there’s a rule somewhere in the hundreds about not wearing uniforms not meant for you.”

“Thank you senpai,” Yuu said gratefully, adjusting Grim’s bow and buttoning up her suit jacket. Cater was far more considerate than he showed.

“Man…now that you’re wearing clothes that fit…” Ace squinted at her, “you really look way too girly. Like one of those far eastern idols on TV.”

“I bet if you had any form of magic, they’d have put you in Pomefiore without a second thought,” Deuce said thoughtfully. “I mean that guy with five million followers was stunning, but you’re not too far off yourself.”

“Hey, if you start a MagiCam account and make it big, don’t forget your friends Ace and Deuce at home,” Ace winked at her.

“Okay, okay, stop making fun of me,” Yuu rolled her eyes, brushing her bangs from her face impatiently. “Let’s go already.”

Several minutes of walking through the labyrinth of scarlet-painted rosebushes had made it known how hopeless it would be for her to find her way in this maze. Yuu had never been the best with spatial orientation so she just plodded after Cater, who moved with confidence and chattered lightly to them as he walked.

They finally emerged into what Cater had called the Tea Garden surrounded by a copse of trees. Once again, Yuu’s breath was taken away—she imagined that this extravagantly decorated outdoor garden was what a Mad Hatter’s tea party would look like.

Pristine white tablecloths hung from round tables that stretched out into the distance, almost all of them occupied by Heartslabyul students similarly attired in white suits. Scarlet roses hung from floating flowerpots and grew unchecked over the table corners, accenting stacks of books, strange top hats, and oversized playing cards. Each table was laden down with a large candelabra, ornate plates and china cups, the occasional goblet or two peeking out from behind vases of flowers. Banners hung from the sky in great swooping curves of fabric, decorated with all manners of spades, hearts, clovers and diamonds; seven-coloured flamingos perched neatly in a row behind the tables.

Yuu was distracted from her examination of a delicately arranged macaron tower at the sharp blast of a bugle.

“Here arrives our leader!” shouted a Heartslabyul student from beside the bugle. His voice trembled slightly. “The red ruler! Make way for Dorm Head Riddle!”

As if rehearsed, the rest of the students shouted as one, “Long live Dorm Head Riddle!”

Riddle, clad handsomely in a suit matching the rest with the addition of an extravagant cape, arrived at the table in front with a satisfied hum. His high-heeled boots gave him several extra inches to look down at the gathered students. “I see that the roses are red and the tablecloths are white. It’s a perfect Unbirthday.”

“Wow,” Yuu mouthed. Even without raising his voice, Riddle’s words carried clearly over to the entrance of the garden, where the five of them were standing. When he moved, his long eyelashes caught the sun and flamed a brilliant scarlet, offsetting a golden crown perched askew in his hair.

Riddle glanced once at Trey, who was standing behind a plush chair at the front table. “I expect that the dormouse is inside of the teapot.”

“Of course,” Trey said with a smile. He looked utterly at ease, his vest unbuttoned all the way and a trilby set atop his messy green hair. “Just in case, we have the jam prepared to paint on his nose.”

“Excellent.”

“Why does everyone in this school look so cool?” Yuu said a little enviously, staring at the embroidery on Riddle’s cape.

“I hate to agree with you,” grumbled Grim, “but he is pretty cool.”

“And the clothing.”

“Yeah.”

Cater put his nose in the air, showing off the sparkling Heartslabyul crest attached below his Four of Diamonds card by puffing out his chest. “Why thank you. It’s great for MagiCam uploads. Plus, it’s one of the rules to be in uniform.”

“You _made_ these?” Yuu gaped at him.

“Not all of it,” Cater said modestly.

“O wise purveyor of the clothing arts, please teach me your ways.”

“Oh, shut it,” Ace turned her head back to face the front. “It’s starting!”

Cater directed them to an empty table, where their marron tart was sitting in a glass case. “Speak up when there’s a lull,” he advised, sliding into a chair on her left side. “Good luck, Ace-chan!”

“Don’t call me that!”

“Before the croquet tourney, let us toast in honour of the occasion.” Riddle glanced around the garden, which had fallen completely silent when he opened his mouth. “Does everyone have their teacups ready? Well then. In celebration of a day in which no one has a birthday—cheers!”

“Cheers,” Yuu echoed, sipping at the fragrant tea in her cup. She wondered if it was proper form to cheer with tea.

There was some idle chatter as Riddle tilted his teacup back elegantly, so Yuu gave Ace an enquiring glance. He sucked in a breath and cleared his throat. “Here goes nothing,” he muttered. “Ahh…Dorm Head!”

Riddle set his teacup down and cast his big grey eyes their way. He raised a brow. “You are…ah, the first-year tart thief.”

“You see,” Ace grinned, stretching the painted heart on his left eyelid, “I wanted to apologise for eating your tart, so I baked you a new one.”

“Hmm?” Riddle didn’t seem impressed. He crossed his leg and leaned back into the plush chair. “I’ll ask just in case. What kind of tart is it?”

“I’m glad you asked!” Ace flourished.

“That guy overacts like it’s his job,” Deuce muttered in her ear.

Yuu snickered. “He’s got an excellent personality, no?”

“If by that, you mean ‘worst’.”

“…filled with freshly picked chestnuts. An unbelievably delicious marron tart!” Ace was bragging to Riddle, looking in his element.

Riddle pushed himself to his feet, his eyes widening in shock. “—A marron tart!? I don’t believe this!”

Deuce and Yuu froze. Ace let out a funny “Heh?” noise.

Riddle slammed one gloved hand on the white tablecloth, voice lowering in anger. “The law of the Queen of Hearts, number five hundred and sixty-two. _Do not bring marron tarts into Unbirthday parties._ ”

The Tea Garden went frighteningly quiet. Across from her, Yuu watched the confidence drain from Ace’s grin as all eyes turned on him.

“This is…a grave violation of the rules!” Riddle glared Ace straight in the eyes. “You’ve ruined this Unbirthday Party utterly!”

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
>  **Edited |** December 31st, 2020 for grammar, better definitions, and minor details to comply with the details found in the “Twisted Wonderland 公式ガイド＋設定資料集 Magical Archives” book.
> 
> —
> 
>  **Resources for this chapter |** [A fan-created map](https://twitter.com/ERRoR59_/status/1303725189310550017) that might be useful for getting a look at how big NRC is. (Sorry if links aren't allowed; please tell me and I'll remove it!) Campus grounds are pretty big. Around 1.5 square km? The castle itself looks around 500 m across, compared to estimates of Hogwarts at 350 m (plus magical shifting parts inside).
> 
> —
> 
>  **Definitions |**
> 
> _little demon (小鬼ちゃん)_ | what Sam calls all of the students. He also uses the -chan suffix!
> 
>  _Deuce's switch in speech patterns_ | when he (and Epel) get worked up, they tend to change their pronouns from 僕 (boku) to 俺 (ore). _俺/ore_ is less formal and a rougher masculine way to refer to oneself than _僕/boku_. His language also changes to become much rougher and reminiscent of a stereotypical Japanese delinquent.
> 
>  _delinquent vocabulary (ワル語録, waru-goroku)_ | what Ace calls Deuce’s bursts of bad language. It’s an Ace-ism!  
>    
> —
> 
> Thank you for reading as always! Please leave a comment below.
> 
> —


	5. Two Sides of Sanity.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riddle's temper reaches its peak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
> Happy Birthday, Jack! 🐺 One day you'll outrun even the fastest reindeer. 
> 
> —

—

Heartslabyul’s tea garden echoed with Riddle’s shout. Ace staggered upright, shouting, “The five _hundredth_ law!?”

Yuu glanced at Trey instinctively, brows furrowing into a frown. Had he known the rule forbidding marron tarts to be brought into the party? She remembered him suggesting it yesterday—Riddle had wanted to eat it, so it was a good idea to make next, he’d said.

But Trey was staring at Riddle with a white face.

“How many rules _are_ there?” Deuce yelled out, forgetting to stay quiet and scraping his chair back in a hurry.

“The complete set is eight hundred and ten.” Riddle crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes at their table. “Of course, I’ve memorized all of them, obviously. I _am_ the Dorm Head.”

Cater signalled Trey with his eyes. “ _Did you know_?” he mouthed.

Trey mouthed back anxiously, “ _I only memorized up to three hundred and fifty!_ I should’ve checked…to think that there would be rules about the type of tart to bring!”

Yuu watched the interaction carefully. But she couldn’t tell if he was telling the truth or lying—Trey’s worry was too well created. Leona-senpai would’ve been useful in a time like this.

Riddle gritted his teeth. “As the Dorm Head of Heartslabyul, which is found on the severity of the Queen of Hearts, I cannot turn my eyes away from this without punishment.”

“Dorm Head,” she started, struck by the frustration in his eyes. Could it be that Riddle himself was trapped by these rules—?

That the one who was suffering the most was him?

“Destroy that tart right away,” Riddle commanded without a hint of hesitation. His eyes were dull. “And throw him out. Now!”

Ace had had enough; never patient, he lost his simpering act and glared rebelliously in the Dorm Head’s direction. “Wait a damn second! What’s with that ridiculous rule!?”

“Yeah! If you’re gonna throw it out, I’m eating it!” Grim added.

“ _Geminio_ ,” muttered Yuu. “ _Accio_ real tart. _Reducio._ ”

No one paid attention to her in the chaos as the rest of Heartslabyul looked on with bated breath. The shrunken tart zoomed obligingly into her flashy suit pocket. For good measure, she laid a Shield charm on top of it to prevent accidental crushing.

“—Dorm Head,” Trey stepped forward, face a mask of calm. “I apologize. The one who suggested he make the Marron Tart was me.”

“Right, right!” Cater stepped forward, smiling, although sweat was beading on his brow. “We didn’t know there was a rule like that at all! So don’t be…”

“The crime isn’t that you made it. The crime is bringing it here! Today! Into this garden! That’s the violation!” Riddle ground out, a vein throbbing in his delicate temple. And yet he still looked laden down with something shading his expression, still looked like the oppressed even though he was the oppressor.

“Losing sight of the reason for rules by looking only at the rules themselves is the work of a fool,” Yuu commented with a shake of her head, unable to hold it back. Unfortunately, she’d said it during a lull in the wake of Riddle’s shout—her voice was heard loud and clear.

Riddle swung around to face her, an unholy light entering his grey eyes. “…Did you just call me a fool?”

“Stop,” Cater hissed over at her, “you can’t say stuff like that here.”

“Oops.” Yuu covered her mouth. No matter how much she had been unable to help herself, the Ravenclaw action would have been to stay silent especially within earshot. Yet, watching Riddle, seeing that undecipherably blank expression in his eyes brought up such an unfamiliar vexing emotion in her chest that she found herself losing control of her words.

Because Riddle had looked…

Time was still moving. Riddle’s attention was still on her. The Ravenclaw thing to do _now_ would be to take back her words. Apologize. Prevent the situation from unravelling.

Yuu didn’t produce a peep.

Cater cleared his throat and pushed back his chair once he realised he couldn’t trust her to alleviate the situation. “Um, Riddle-kun, these kids have barely been in school for a few weeks, all right?” He pushed her behind his shoulder in a rather touching move of upperclassman responsibility. “They’re so fresh they’re not even out of the oven yet.”

“No,” Ace planted his feet on the ground, jerking his chin up defiantly, “ _I’m_ gonna say it. Don’t screw with me. Throwing out a tart just ‘cause of some stupid rule makes you _stupid_.”

“I have to agree with Ace,” Deuce said quietly, the edge of violence once again sharpening his voice. “Of course I also think that students should protect the rules already in place…but these rules are too over the top!”

It wasn’t about the rules for Yuu, though it was easy for her to say— _she_ wasn’t the one wearing a metal collar sealing her magic.

But Riddle himself was weighed down with the red and he looked like he was slowly dying under the heavy mantle. She just couldn’t get past that burden on his thin shoulders. Not when it reminded her so much of the past. Not when it felt like there was so much more behind his angry mask.

This was no longer a situation where Yuu could separate herself cleanly and view things impartially.

“You have quite the cheek to be speaking back to me,” Riddle was saying lowly as he fixed Ace and Deuce in his intimidating glare. “Listen well. Small revolts against a rule are connected to bigger problems.”

“So? No one cares.” With his signature callousness, Ace’s face twisted into a wicked grin, the same grin he was wearing the first time they’d met. “I bet you everyone else sitting here drinking tea is thinking the same as me—they’re just scared you’re gonna Behead them.”

A blue-haired student he swung too nearly fell of his chair in fright. “Wh-what? No, we—”

Riddle turned slightly to face the neighbouring table. “…Is that so?”

“Absolutely not, Dorm Head!” his neighbour spluttered in a panic.

“Everything should go according to the way Dorm Head thinks!” another student rushed to add.

“Hmm. No wonder this dorm hasn’t been able to do anything about this problem,” Yuu gave up on pretending to be polite. She lifted an eyebrow. “They’re just a bunch of two-faced cowards, aren’t they?”

“Lame as hell,” Ace agreed with her, casting an extraordinarily gold glance over at the table beside them.

“And yet in the year which I have been Dorm Head,” Riddle said imperiously, “not a single student has been held back or expelled. Do you know how difficult that is? As evidence, the only dorm that managed that was Heartslabyul.”

“I thought this was a good school?” she squinted at Deuce, muttering across the table.

“…There are unexpectedly a lot of delinquents here?” Deuce shrugged back at her helplessly.

“Within Heartslabyul, my grades are the highest. My magic is the strongest.” Riddle snapped, shutting them up. “That is why I am the law around here. There wouldn’t be any problems if you just shut up and listened to me.”

“Yes there would.” Yuu got to her feet, turned, and looked Riddle squarely in the eyes. “Maybe on the surface everyone would be listening to you. And if you only look at the results, that’s all that matters. But Dorm Head, living in a system of punishment is only going to—”

“It’s not like I _want_ to be Beheading people left and right!” Riddle shouted at her, heat rising up his neck. “It’s _your faults_ for breaking the rules so foolishly. Your faults for being so subpar! Now say ‘yes, Dorm Head’, or I’m going to Behead you all!”

“You forget that your magic has no effect on someone who’s never touched a Pen,” Yuu said without missing a beat. “So give it all you’ve got, _Dorm Head_ , because I don’t believe that agreeing with you will make the situation better for anyone.”

 _Including yourself_ , she wanted to say. But Riddle was not in any state to listen.

“Yuu’s right…” Deuce stepped up beside her. “I can’t say it.”

“I’m not about to fold under a selfish tyrant,” Ace sneered.

“What he said!” Grim growled from her shoulder. “Me and my henchman aren’t gonna listen to _you!_ ”

“…What did you say just now?” Riddle murmured quietly.

“What, that you’re a selfish, easily angered tyrant who wastes food?!” Grim snarled.

“I didn’t say _that_ much—” Deuce spluttered.

The roar echoed across Heartslabyul’s Rose Maze, shaking leaves against the bushes. “ _Off with Your Head!_ ”

—

**CHAPTER FIVE | Two Sides of Sanity.**

—

“That—! _That_!!” Ace flung his arms in the air, incensed. “That selfish little redheaded prick!”

Yuu ducked to the side to avoid getting hit, the bag with their old clothing dangling from her arm as they walked. Cater had apparently not Transfigured their clothing (or the equivalent here) but literally swapped them, which meant that her suit was custom-made for her size. For a moment she wondered if he’d measured her, worried he might have a clue on her gender, but Cater had filled the uneasy air with chatter about how the spell was automatic and flashy enough to cover its practicality. He’d shoved the bag with their uniforms and her clothing into her hands as they were ‘escorted’ out of the garden and shown the way to the mirror. When no one was looking, she took the Shrunken marron tart from her pocket, placed a Stasis Charm on it, and dropped it in.

The three of them stood before the road leading back to the mirror and school building, where Cater and Trey had ever-so-politely herded them before leaving an unhelpful comment about apologizing once Riddle was no longer angry. The morning sky was almost irritatingly blue and sunny. Ace and Deuce didn’t seem to notice; the former was fuming, and the latter was in a state of shock not unlike his baby bird shock last night.

Yuu, who was mostly worried about the collar nearly choking Grim, was trying to figure out a way to make him more comfortable. She’d seen the way it closed tightly around his neck before changing size to fit snugly. Unfortunately, Grim was a lot smaller than a regular teenage human and teetered back and forth with the weight. When she held him in her arms to try and pry it off, Yuu nearly staggered with the load. Grim wasn’t exactly as light as a house cat, but the metal collar was _heavy._

“I can’t believe our upperclassmen actually listened to him and threw us out,” Deuce said despondently. “They seemed all right. Why are they so content to _listen_ to him?”

“Cater-senpai seems to have his own interests in mind first and foremost,” Yuu remarked, sliding a finger between Grim’s neck and the metal collar surrounding it so that he could breathe easier. “He seems really opportunistic.”

“And that Trey-senpai is too wishy-washy!” Ace exploded. “He looks like a big brother who only knows how to spoil his little siblings! Just letting that dorm head run around doing whatever he wants…”

“Really?” Yuu hadn’t thought about it from that perspective. “Ace, you said Trey-senpai is spoiling the Dorm Head?”

“Obviously. The marron tart was ‘cause Riddle wanted to eat it,” Ace ticked off, “the dormouse and jam or whatever is all done by him, Riddle seems to trust him, he made his stance clear he’s not on our side…it can’t get clearer than this.”

Yuu realized with shame that she had completely missed these cues because of how wary she had become of the vice Dorm Head. Right now wasn’t the time to worry about whether Trey had planned this entire thing by suggesting they make a marron tart.

Someone as intelligent as Trey could have figured a way out of this situation long ago. Yet he remained at the right-hand spot as vice head without wavering and had situated himself firmly on ‘Riddle’s side’. Whether it was out of sympathy or something else, though, she had no idea.

While she thought, Deuce was moaning, “We just got kicked out of the dorm after rebelling against the dorm head…my dream of being a model student is dying…”

“Push the collar up a bit more, Yuu…” Grim managed and puffed out a long sigh when she popped it past his chin. “Phew. I can finally breathe again.”

“If I were good at physical activities, I would punch him once for doing this to you,” Yuu told him calmly.

Ace snickered. “Man, Yuu, you keep impressing me. Do you have no fear or something? You said some pretty cool stuff back there.”

“I just…” Yuu hesitated. “I just couldn’t stand to see him like that.”

“Oh my, oh my. Those collars are pretty stylish, _nya_!” someone said from behind her.

Yuu turned and jumped. A floating head was hovering several inches above hers, sporting a shock of messily cut purple hair and two triangular catlike ears pierced through with metal arrows.

The golden slit-pupil eyes narrowed at her. “Are you talking about Riddle?”

Ace, Deuce, and Grim harmonized when they screamed, “ _A floating head_!!”

“Whoops.” In the blink of an eye, a body had emerged under the head. The new arrival waved a hand in apology, his fingers all but covered under an oversized white shirt, and showed his sharp canines in a smile. “I forgot to materialize fully.” He didn’t look very sorry.

“He has a body…” Deuce exhaled in relief. “Ahem. You are…?”

Yuu gave him a look. Wasn’t he going to display more shock that someone had materialised from _thin air_?

Or was that normal in this world?

“I’m Alchemi Alchemievich Pinker,” the stranger introduced with a wink, the shoulder of his dress shirt falling to reveal a checked purple shirt underneath. “I’m an incomprehensible being. You can describe me as catlike or human-like.”

“Alche-what?” Ace spluttered.

He giggled. “Everyone calls me Che’nya.”

She was sure this person before her was also somehow not human. But ‘humanity’ was starting to lose meaning when so many of the people here had ears like his. “Che’…nya-san.” Yuu said cautiously. “Nice to meet you. I’m Yuu. This is Ace and this is Deuce. The one in my arms is Grim.”

“Pleasure,” Che’nya laughed again, holding up a curled hand like a cat in greeting. “Anyway, my magic’s on another level compared to those guys over there.”

This school really was full of egotistical students. Yuu examined Che’nya curiously, wondering what it was about him that made appearing and disappearing at will possible.

Ace didn’t seem to care. “I’m in a bad mood right now because of that redheaded tyrant,” he glared at Che’nya, “so leave me alone.”

“Riddle, a tyrant?” Che’nya cocked his head, the smile never leaving his face. “…Well, I suppose he’s not _not_ a tyrant. He’s been overly serious like that ever since he was yay high.”

Yuu concluded it was the slightly old-fashioned way in which he spoke that made her sure he wasn’t human. Like Lilia Vanrouge whom she’d met in the cafeteria, there was something about Che’nya that overflowed his humanoid body. Something Other.

Or maybe it was because he attached ‘ _nya_ ’ to the end of his sentences without an ounce of embarrassment. That took some guts.

“Do you know something?” Deuce asked eagerly.

“Perhaps I know something, perhaps I don’t,” Che’nya’s mouth pulled up in a slow, wide smile at them.

“Which is it?” Grim, who’d recovered from his choking, rubbed his face on her clothing in thanks and gave him a flat stare.

“What, you guys want to know about Riddle?” Che’nya drawled.

“That’s right,” Ace growled, “how the hell does one grow up to be that…high handed?”

“Then you should go ask the Glasses,” Che’nya told them without ceremony.

“The Glasses…you mean Clover-senpai?” Deuce frowned.

“That guy’s known Riddle since he was a wee boy.” Che’nya jerked a thumb over at the labyrinth, beyond where the Tea Garden lay. “If I wanted to know about Riddle, I would go to him first.”

“They’re childhood friends?” Deuce contemplated. “But it didn’t seem that way at all.”

Yuu agreed with him. Yet Trey was so good at acting she didn’t trust her own judgment any longer. Che’nya was right—going around in circles thinking wouldn’t do anything; she had to ask him straight.

Che’nya looked bored. His right ear—pierced with a circular badge reading UP—twitched before it faded into nothing briefly. “If you think they’re unrelated, then I guess they might not be? Then you don’t need to ask me anymore. See ya.”

Yuu watched him disappear as abruptly as he’d come, leaving just the faint imprint of a smile before that, too, vanished. A Cheshire-cat like existence.

That wasn’t important right now.

“Weird guy,” Grim grumbled.

“We need to track Trey-senpai down,” Yuu said flatly, dismissing the encounter with a shake of her head.

Ace peered into her face with a grin. “Took the words right out of my mouth. Though…Why’re you so determined all of a sudden? Most of the time you’re sort of just floating around aimlessly.”

“Don’t call me a jellyfish. There’s just something about Dorm Head…” Yuu hesitated.

“That jerk?” Ace lifted a brow. “What, you can’t take his despotic reign either?”

“…I’ve got a bad feeling,” Yuu sighed. “Anyway, I’m going to the library. There’s something I wanted to look up.”

The four of them, now freed from the stifling confines of the Unbirthday Party, trudged towards the entrance to the dorm with slumped shoulders. Now that Grim, Ace and Deuce were all wearing the heavy metal chain around their necks, they were much more invested in getting it off, debating fiercely among themselves when they should corner Trey or Riddle or if they should just punch their way into the dorm.

Yuu listened to them absently, deep in thought and falling slightly behind. As they prepared to go through the mirror, she nearly fell over when Che’nya’s head appeared next to hers. “Oh, by the way.”

“Wha—!?”

“Hey, hey,” the head floated closer, its gold eyes shining, “You’re a real interesting character, so I’m gonna give you a hint, _nya_.”

“Che’nya-san?” she hissed, wondering why no one else noticed him. “What are you—?”

The sets of three barrettes in his hair looked almost like whiskers, twitching as he smiled widely. “You’ve got good instincts,” Che’nya ignored her. “So I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss your judgements if I were you, little lady.”

“What!?” Yuu gasped.

“Or should I say…Little lost Alice? Careful you don’t fall under a curse in this school,” Che’nya’s laughter preceded him fading out of sight for good this time, leaving Grim to leap back over to her, asking what was wrong.

—

Although she’d been prepared for Riddle’s fallout—some form of retribution against her thoughtless words—the next few days passed uneventfully, even if Ace refused to apologize and forbade Deuce or Grim to try. Classes resumed as usual, and she continued her trips to the library in her free time. Yuu had been a little overwhelmed with the strangeness of Che’nya’s ‘advice’ and wondered how on earth he knew her gender, but she couldn’t do anything about it now.

She’d felt her spine go cold when he’d called her ‘lady’—but days later no one had approached her about her gender. So Yuu moved on. She was never one to dwell needlessly on something outside of her control.

If the secret came out, she wouldn’t be able to remain a student in a boy’s school.

Was surviving alone in this world even possible?

Yuu ignored the niggling worry in her head. She’d manage. Somehow. It was unproductive to be concerned when there were more pressing matters at hand.

There was a wealth of information concerning Unique Magic in the library (though so far, nothing had come up about dimension-travelling), and she’d borrowed several of the thicker tomes on the topic, but it was three days later after dinner when Ace finally lost his patience and followed her to her usual table by the window.

Ace Trappola was smart. Perhaps intelligent enough to be sorted into Ravenclaw, at least by Yuu’s judgment. He was far too pragmatic to enter Gryffindor and, despite valuing his reputation, disdained ambition and ‘dreams’ which disqualified him from Slytherin. (Hufflepuff was out of the question.) Ace shot through the Magical Analysis classes—which mirrored Arithmancy—so fast even she was impressed and rather left Deuce in the dust with his train of thought.

Yet he was hardly the type to spend time in the quiet, dusky corners of the library.

“Why are you here?” she prompted with a raised brow as Ace French-braided her hair in sheer boredom while she read. He was quick and light with his hands—perfect, she thought, for sleight of hand tricks. Indeed, Ace had showed them quite a few tricks with cards when they played in the evenings.

“Waiting for Trey-senpai to show up.” Ace responded, not bothering to whisper. “What shampoo d’you use?”

“The same one as you do, moron,” she rolled her eyes, “since we share a shower right now.”

“Your hair is so much better than mine.” Ace complained. “I don’t know why you tie it back so tightly all the time. You could wow the ladies with one of those hipster hair-flips.”

“It’s in the way. And what would you do if I tried a hipster hair-flip?” amused, Yuu bookmarked the page of _How the Shape of a Soul Affects Unique Magic_ and met his slanted red-brown eyes.

Ace didn’t hesitate. “Roll around on the ground laughing and pretend I don’t know you.”

“What a paragon of a good friend,” Yuu scratched a snoring Grim absently behind the ears as she put her book down. “So why is Trey-senpai coming here tonight?”

“I heard someone in ’Labyul talking to him earlier. He said he’d return the recipe book here today.” Ace rolled his neck aggressively. “So I’m gonna corner him with this thug over here.”

Yuu eyed Deuce on her other side, who was sleeping blissfully, looking less like a thug and more like a department store model. “Sure, good luck with that.”

“Slap him awake for me,” Ace grumbled.

“Too much effort. Are you done your homework?”

“I’ll do it before class tomorrow morning.”

By the time Trey showed up, all three of them were dozing (and Grim was deep in his REM cycle). Movement out of the corner of her drooping vision brought Yuu back to reality with a start.

Trey was standing at a shelf across the library in a spot where she could see, cutting an impressive figure half hidden in the shadows. Yuu yawned, gently moved Ace’s head to the stack of books on the table from her shoulder, and slipped from her chair.

“Senpai,” she whispered as she neared.

Trey blinked over her in apparent surprise as he slid a book back into a shelf. “Transfer. What are you doing here so late? Also, what’s with the braids?”

“I’m usually in here,” she shrugged, “And Ace was bored.”

“That kid is unexpectedly good with his hands,” Trey said wryly. “I hope you realize you look like a little girl right now.”

Yuu rolled her eyes, letting it slide. “…Thought I might want to let you know that both Ace and Deuce want to talk to you. They’re snoozing at the table over there.”

Trey sighed and massaged his brow. “I thought so,” he said wearily. “Those two are the first to speak up overtly against the Dorm Head since he took the position. Figured they wouldn’t give up so easily.”

“Ace probably won’t stop bothering you until he’s satisfied, so I suggest talking it out with them,” Yuu yawned.

“Both of them have been staying at Ramshackle recently?” Trey asked her.

Yuu nodded.

“Sorry for pushing them on you,” he gave her a troubled smile, “it should be our job to take care of them, but…”

“Don’t worry about it. They’re my friends.” Yuu brushed it off. “…More importantly. I wanted to ask you a question.”

“About Riddle?”

“No…well, not yet,” she frowned. “About someone called Che’nya-san. Do you know him?”

“Che’nya?” Trey raised both eyebrows in surprise. “How did you meet him?”

“He appeared right in front of us,” Yuu grinned, “and scared the living daylights out of Grim ’cause he only showed his head at first.”

“That guy…” Trey rolled his eyes, “he always does that on purpose to scare people. I keep telling him not to use his Unique Magic for… Yeah, I know him. Me and him…we were childhood playmates.”

“Really? I thought he might be another one of those older-than-he-looks types,” Yuu said in surprise.

“At least as far as I know, he’s aged just like me,” Trey chuckled at her. “…Why did you want to know about him?”

Yuu decided to take a risk. Talking with Trey made her nervous, but she wasn’t going to get anywhere by avoiding discussing things.

“He gave me some weird advice the other day,” she explained, “which I honestly still don’t really get, that’s all.”

This time Trey raised both eyebrows and turned to her, leaning on the shelf. “To just you?”

“Yeah.” He’d also known her gender without even trying. Could he smell it like Leona?

“Hmm. It’s pretty rare that Che’nya takes enough of a liking to someone to give them advice for free. He is good at it, though.” Trey rubbed his chin thoughtfully, considering her. “He’s not a bad guy—nowhere near as bad as the guys who go to this school, anyway. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. He wouldn’t steer you wrong.”

“I sort of got that feeling.” Che’nya had behaved like a wise grandfather. Yuu wondered, “does that mean you two were both friends with the Dorm Head when you were little?”

“He told you that?” Trey said, not looking surprised. “Yeah. Well, with the way Riddle’s home life was, we didn’t get the chance to play together too much, but the three of us came from the same area.”

“No wonder,” Yuu mumbled. Che’nya had, though not obviously, pointed them towards Trey for information about Riddle. She wondered how close they were.

Trey narrowed his eyes at her. “Transfer, not to be rude, but why are you asking me this?”

Yuu blinked. “Sorry?”

“You’re not directly involved like Ace or Deuce are, since they’re Beheaded,” Trey clarified. “And from what I can see of your personality, you’re not one to stick your nose in fights that don’t belong to you.”

“You could tell?” she grinned sheepishly.

“You’ve got this slight resemblance to Che’nya,” Trey grimaced back, “this…detachedness. I’ve hung out with that guy for more than ten years, so I can tell.”

“You’re probably right,” Yuu nodded.

“That’s why I don’t understand why you’re asking me about this.” Trey frowned at her. “Is it for your friends? You’ve only known them for a month.”

“Ace and Deuce are…” Yuu searched briefly for words and then shrugged helplessly. “My friends. They’re part of me, I don’t know. Of course I’d help them. Plus, Grim is my charge and he’s been collared too.”

Trey didn’t look very satisfied.

Yuu sighed, not having expected to be able to put one past him. “Which is a front.”

“A front?”

“Your friend, the Dorm Head…Rosehearts-senpai.” Yuu squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t know. When I see him like that I can’t stand it. I feel like…” taking a hold of his collar and _shaking_. She swallowed that bit before it came out.

Trey looked the most genuinely surprised she’d ever seen him when she opened her eyes again. Yuu understood then that he hadn’t been ‘truly’ surprised when she’d approached him a few minutes ago. It seemed that this was the first glimpse of real emotion she’d detected from the third-year vice Head, ever.

“You’re worried about Riddle?” Trey said slowly.

“Worried isn’t the right word for it,” she demurred. Yuu shook her head to change the topic. “…But whatever the reason is, none of us are satisfied in leaving the situation like this. So if you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you to tell me about Rosehearts-senpai. I know it’s rude to ask when he’s not around, but I don’t think he’d be very open to talking to me after I insulted him.”

“I’ll admit it was a shock when you called him a fool,” Trey grinned, face brightening the same mean way it had when he’d told them the oyster sauce was a joke. “For a first year, you sure have guts.”

“I didn’t mean to say it,” Yuu said sheepishly, “I just…watching him like that was…unpleasant.”

“Yeah.” Trey nodded, looking like he really understood her. “All right, transfer. Let’s sit down—it’s not a short story.”

Once she was seated in an armchair across from Trey in a darkened corner of the library, he pushed his rectangular-rimmed glasses up absently and told her there was a reason he didn’t just resist Riddle’s tyrannical rule. With a bit of a self-deprecating smile, Trey stared down at his large hands. “I don’t have the right to scold him.”

Trey Clover had grown up as the oldest son of a pâtissier family. He’d spent his childhood in the same neighbourhood as a family of famous magical doctors. It was to those talented doctors that Riddle Rosehearts was born—marking the beginning of Riddle’s controlled life.

As she listened to Trey describe the minute-to-minute schedule created for Riddle by his mother, Yuu remembered hazily how years ago, a scandal in in the muggle world had arisen about a ‘tiger mother’ who controlled her children’s lives to the letter. At the time, Yuu had scanned the news with a complete lack of interest. She had no point of reference to understand why people were so angry, because Yuu’s own life was the very antithesis of a controlled life.

Sure, she studied Japanese and her grandmother on her mother’s side (met during her time visiting Nagoya) drilled the quiet politeness of a Japanese lady into her. But her own mother had never taken responsibility over Yuu—never prepared a meal. Never glanced her way, no matter how much she called.

Her father? She could count on one hand the number of conversations they’d had.

Riddle’s mother was the very opposite of hers: a ‘tiger mother’. Perhaps that was an understatement—Yuu had never heard of a mother who measured out individual caloric meals for her son every year as he grew. Apparently, as one of the most famous doctors in the Kingdom of Roses, where they hailed from, she expected the same performance from Riddle that she had achieved herself. From the moment he was born, his life was planned out in minute increments, as regular as the ticking of a clock. According to Trey, it wasn’t an overstatement to say Riddle had been created by rules—his abilities, his knowledge, his magic, his nutrition, his friends.

Yuu felt unpleasant. She wanted to stop listening. What had been just another piece of news several years ago felt like glass in her ears now.

Trey was wearing an expression similar to how she felt, as if he’d bitten down on a cavity. “Still, Riddle quietly completed all the tasks required of him and in a historical record, completed his Unique Magic at the age of ten.”

“I’m reading about Unique Magics right now,” Yuu blurted out, “that’s ridiculous. Ten is so young.”

She hadn’t gotten her Hogwarts letter until she’d turned eleven. Hadn’t even _known_ what the wonderful and terrible thing called magic was at ten.

Trey gave her a helpless smile. “Throughout elementary school and middle school, he kept the first place in his year the entire time,” he continued. “I can’t even imagine how hard it was for him.”

Because it was all he’d known, Riddle believed in the power of rules to shape a person. Instead of rebelling against his parents, he was sure his mother was “correct” and her rules were for “his benefit”. Therefore, protecting the rules at all costs was a natural mindset for him to take, because Riddle had been fed and raised on rules. Fear of punishment and ties to rules were tools for growth. That was what Riddle knew.

Yuu studied Trey as she listened to him speak. She still didn’t know what parts of his expressions were true and which were lies, but she couldn’t make herself doubt his concern over Riddle. If Trey had been fed up with him, he would have figured out a way to leave, and yet he was still here, making tarts daily and borrowing books from the library to bake sweets that Riddle wanted to eat.

Surely this wasn’t out of ‘duty’.

To Yuu it looked like Trey had been walking a tightrope since he’d become friends with Riddle, more than ten years ago. Denying the rules that Riddle abided meant denying everything that Riddle stood for. When someone was being pressured into an unfair lifestyle, it was easy enough to tell them what they were doing was ‘wrong’. And yet Yuu could tell it would have been the cruellest thing to do—surely if Trey had tried to persuade Riddle to change his ways, or tried to remove him from his parents, it would have hurt the Rosehearts family and most deeply, Riddle himself, because he had laboured in that family for seventeen years.

Trey could not in good conscience—or even in bad conscience—leave Riddle alone either. She could see it in that frustrated expression that matched the boiling in her gut at the thought of what the Dorm Head had to suffer through. There might have been some selfishness in there too—she didn’t know him well enough to guess—but it was far from the emotionless person she had imagined days ago.

Maybe he was a perfect liar, but that didn’t mean anything right now.

“Sorry,” Yuu said when Trey paused.

“Hm? Why are you apologizing?”

“I made a mistake,” she said calmly to make sure her voice didn’t shake. “The other day when I called him a fool. It really is the truth that the one who calls another a fool is a fool himself.”

“No, you had the right,” Trey shook his head, “after all you four went through these past few days.”

“No I don’t. I had no idea what his life was like, what his values were like, and I judged him according to my standards,” Yuu denied him flatly. “I owe Rosehearts-senpai an apology, as well as you, Trey-senpai, for hurting your childhood friend inconsiderately.”

“Transfer…” Trey gave her a lopsided grin. “You’re pretty serious yourself, huh?”

“Not particularly. But some things need to be taken seriously.” Yuu swallowed. “I understand that you can’t just turn on him in your position, not when you’re the closest to his heart.”

Trey tensed, as if anticipating her next words. “!”

“But,” Yuu bit her lip, “because of your reluctance to talk to him, the situation is getting worse and worse. So—”

“So the reason Dorm Head Riddle’s like that is ‘cause you’re spoiling him,” Ace said from somewhere to her right. “I finally get it.”

“Ace,” snapped Deuce from her left, “show some restraint.”

“Where’d you go?” Grim crawled up into her lap despondently. “Wake me up next time.”

“You three.” Trey didn’t seem very surprised. “Since when were you listening?”

“Since the beginning.” Ace put on a sneer. “Dorm Head can’t help being born to his parents, which is fine. But you’ve hung around him enough to know that his parents are like that, right? Why didn’t you say something? And now that he’s going down the same road his parents are—why don’t you stop him?”

Trey went silent. Yuu was sure he’d asked himself the same questions, struggled through the same thought process. By now, she felt like after so much wondering she might have finally touched on the core of what made this person tick.

“Ace,” she sighed, “it’s not his fault. You can play the blame game all you want, but this is way too complicated to blame Trey-senpai for something he couldn’t do. Not everyone’s as…inconsiderate…as you are.”

“Huh!?” Ace glared down at her from where he was perched on the couch. “Who the hell’s inconsiderate?”

“You are,” Deuce rolled his eyes, “there’s no way anyone else would have the guts to say stuff like that to Dorm Head.”

“In any case, it’s very simple,” shrugged Yuu. “Trey-senpai cares more about Rosehearts-senpai than everything else. In a way, he is spoiling him…like a big brother. In another way, he’s making the most logical judgment with the priorities he has. If he’d just inconsiderately said whatever he was thinking, he’d ruin his relationship with Rosehearts-senpai forever.”

“It can’t be that bad,” Ace rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know what your home life is like, but there’s no way that what Trey-senpai put into words right now is the end of what he went through,” Yuu shook her head. “I’ve seen what overly controlling parents do to their kids back in my school. I’m not going to mince words, okay: it’s abuse. That’s not how you behave towards a child.”

Even in the peaceful era they currently lived in, Hogwarts was not a happy paradise. Plenty of students were carrying scars on them, in one form or another. Riddle was no different.

Ace fell silent, staring at her. Assessing. Not quite understanding, but feeling the weight of her words.

“I like that merciless part of you,” Yuu told him with a grin. “If it was me, I’d want someone to slap the sense into me that I’m sure you’d know how to do best. But just because _you_ can do it doesn’t mean you should expect the same of Trey-senpai. He’s already suffered through watching his friend walk on the edge of sanity for a while.”

“Sanity?!” Ace repeated.

“Haven’t you seen your Dorm Head’s face?” Yuu grimaced, remembering the heaviness in those grey eyes. “He’s not—ugh. I’m not here to discuss semantics. Listen, you can’t push the responsibility on Trey-senpai for no reason.”

“But what Trey-senpai’s doing is effectively just watching as Riddle gets separated from and hated by the entire dorm,” Ace ground out, unwilling to back down.

Deuce reached across the seat to slap his arm. “Hey, watch your words!”

“The alternative is to take the fragile trust he’s built up for over ten years and smash it all over the ground with impunity,” Yuu said flatly. “You want him to do that?”

“So what! In the end isn’t he just afraid? Afraid of hurting and getting hurt? Afraid of letting out what he really thinks!?” Ace’s voice rose. “That’s not what I call friendship. It’s just lame cowardice! Hell, I’m better friends with _you_ and I’ve known you for a month!”

Yuu shoved herself to her feet. “Ace, you don’t have the right to judge someone without seeing their pain.”

“As if I care about their mushy emotions,” Ace scoffed, “the result is that there are problems in the school, isn’t it? Who cares.”

She gaped at him. “Are you a sociopath or something?!”

“Hey!” Crowley swooped into the room, his mantle sweeping behind him. “STOP YELLING IN THE LIBRARY!”

“You’re the loudest one in here!” Yuu and Ace snapped at him in unison.

—

The gathered group apologized sullenly to the headmaster, but Yuu was done with discussing ‘mushy emotions’, as Ace called it. She liked Ace even if she didn’t agree with his conclusions on what ‘friendship’ meant and she knew that the two of them probably wouldn’t come to a consensus on this topic anytime soon.

Both Ace and she knew that right now that wasn’t the problem.

“Headmaster,” Yuu said firmly, “I need your opinion on something, please.”

“Hmm?” Crowley perched on the back of the armchair she had been sitting in, looking more birdlike than ever. “What on earth could it be, child?”

Ace shot her a look. He was hesitant about speaking in front of the Headmaster, and Trey had gone very quiet, but she trusted Crowley more than was strictly necessary. Yuu went through a simplified version of their current predicament without mincing words.

It went something like this: they disagreed with Riddle’s methods of control in Heartslabyul and wanted to stop him. However, with the collars around Ace’s, Deuce’s and Grim’s necks, they were at a disadvantage. And Ace was absolutely dead set against apologizing to Riddle.

Crowley listened to her and rested his chin on a metal-tipped glove. “Hmm…if you have such a bad relationship with your Dorm Head, there is always the option of transferring. You aren’t the first to clash against their Dorm Head this year.”

“Transferring dorms?” Yuu blinked, surprised. “I thought your dorm was based on the shape of your soul or whatever nonsense that was.”

“It’s not nonsense!” Crowley chopped her gently on the head. “However, you are right that switching dorms is not an easy task because of the Mirror’s decision. A lot of paperwork and ceremony is involved.”

“Nah,” Ace made a face. “Don’t wanna do that.”

“He’s probably going to say something like ‘that’d be like losing’,” she muttered to Deuce and Trey in undertone.

“That’s like…the same thing as losing to the Dorm Head, which is lame,” Ace said.

Deuce gaped at her. “You can read minds!”

“I think I have a hold on what kind of person my friend is by now,” she said dryly.

Trey gave her an unreadable glance. “So you do,” he said softly.

“Hm.” Crowley made a thinking pose again. “Well then, how about you submit a challenge to duel him and become Dorm Head instead?”

A moment of silence suffused the library.

Deuce broke it. “What?”

“Um,” Yuu managed. “ _Huh?_ ”

Grim shouted, “You can _do_ that!?”

“Lower your voices!” Crowley scolded him.

Yuu thought distractedly that the image of Grim slapping his tiny paws over his mouth was the cutest thing ever.

Crowley sighed. “It’s not as if I said anything out of the ordinary. Mister Clover should know very well, since Mister Rosehearts became the Dorm Head using the very same method.”

“By a _duel_?!” Yuu gave him an incredulous stare. “Headmaster, you let people take responsibility over an entire dorm by having them _fight_ over it!?”

“So that’s the way they decide who gets to rule over the rest of ‘em?” Deuce, excited, clenched his fists and reverting to the trigger-happy figure his upperclassmen had called ‘insane’ several days ago. “Didn’t someone say Rosehearts-senpai stole the seat not even a week in?”

“There are many ways one may become Dorm Head.” Crowley ticked the methods on his fingers. “The previous dorm head can appoint him, or he can win a duel he challenges the current dorm head to. There are a few other ways as well, but duelling is one of the simpler ones.”

“I can’t believe it,” Yuu said slowly. “No wonder the cowards from Heartslabyul were so content to be stepped on by him. Instead of merit, Dorm Heads are decided by a barbaric system relying almost half on _luck_? Headmaster…are you serious?”

“Yuu can really lay it out sometimes,” Deuce muttered weakly.

“In the hundred or so years NRC has existed, this method has been surprisingly the best one,” Crowley told her wryly, his golden eyes narrowing in good humour.

“But I thought personal fights between students were against the school rules,” Ace frowned.

“Ah, but a properly applied and procedural duel wherein the Headmaster acts as the judge is no personal fight. It becomes an official event.” Crowley transferred those narrowed eyes to him.

“It’s true that because handicaps on either side are forbidden, you would get your collars taken off before the duel began without apologizing to Riddle,” Trey pondered. “But still…”

Crowley spread his hands. “The right to challenge a Dorm Head is given to each student the moment they are accepted into NRC,” he smiled. “What will you do, Mister Trappola? Do you wish to challenge Mister Rosehearts?”

Yuu remembered when, after their adventure in the Dwarf Mines, Crowley had told her he was admitting her with the full rights of a student. Did this mean she was also able to _be_ challenged to duels? If so, being unable to use their magic might prove a problem. People didn’t like her very much here.

Ace, predictably, jerked his head down in a sharp nod. “Right. Let’s give it a shot then.”

“Then I’ll challenge him too,” Deuce slammed his fist into a palm threateningly.

“Me three!” Grim leapt onto her shoulder.

“Ah, Mister Grim. Unfortunately, students from other dorms are not permitted to challenge a different dorm head,” Crowley explained. “In addition, because you are two in one, all fights you accept must be handled by both you and Yuu-kun here. Since Yuu-kun has no magic, this is not a wise decision.”

“Don’t worry, Grim,” Ace smirked confidently, “when I become the Dorm Head, I’ll order Riddle to take it off for you.”

“C’mon, it was my chance to show off my power!” Grim puffed his cheeks out.

“Are you serious?” Trey cut in, the line between his brows deepening with his frown. “Deuce. I didn’t expect for you to join in too.”

Deuce grinned wickedly. “That so? But if you’re a man, I think it’s natural to want to aim to be the gang leader once or twice. And if we’re challenging someone, it’s gotta be the current boss.”

“There’s Deuce’s delinquent vocabulary for ya,” Ace snickered.

Deuce blinked. “Huh? Isn’t this normal?”

“Former delinquent,” she whispered to Trey, who looked rather confused, under her breath.

“Well then, I will get the paperwork for the two of you completed,” Crowley said willingly enough. “How nice am I? Sometimes I astound myself.”

Yuu secretly felt a little disappointed she couldn’t challenge Riddle to a battle—not that she had any hopes of winning over someone who was talented enough to create his Unique Magic at age _ten_. She clapped her hands. “Which means we got to plan a strategy.”

“Any ideas, oh great strategist?” Ace nudged her with his arm, their earlier spat forgotten.

Deuce sighed, “I honestly don’t see us winning over him with magic alone.”

“But,” she prompted.

Deuce smirked and cracked his knuckles under his gloves. “If we’re talking with fists, I could probably handle it.”

“That guy is pretty weak-looking, almost as weak-looking as Yuu,” Grim commented.

“You insulting me?” Yuu poked him in the forehead.

“Oh, I forgot to mention,” Crowley lifted a hand. “In duels, the only acceptable form of fighting is magic. Everything else is forbidden.”

Deuce dropped his fists. “Wha—”

“Ha ha ha! I’m looking forward to a duel that _follows_ the rules!” Crowley laughed. “I’ll have the paperwork done by tomorrow afternoon, so you may challenge him any time after that. Farewell! And keep your voices down in the library!”

“Says the loudest one,” Yuu mumbled.

Ace laughed nervously as the Headmaster left as quickly as he had appeared. “All right! A little less sure about fighting with magic only, but there’s where Yuu the strategist comes in.”

Yuu rolled her eyes. “I should just leave you on your own, bozo.”

“You guys…” Trey said quietly.

“And I’m gonna make him get down on his knees and say _I was wrong, I’m very sorry_ once I become Dorm Head!” Ace was waving his hands animatedly at Deuce and Grim.

“We’ll figure something out,” Yuu smiled up at the third year, “Ace is a little, er, callous, but no one is benefiting from this current situation, so there really is nothing left but to change it. You can sit back and watch us figure it out if you don’t want to step in.”

Trey gave her a complicated grimace. “I don’t think it’s going to be that easy.”

—

Again, Yuu dreamed of the Queen of Hearts. She didn’t recognize the cartoonish images of this Dixney movie but knew the scene as the titular character facing the Queen in her trial. Alice’s Adventures came down to logic games in the end, she remembered dully as the Queen screeched and attacked Alice with her card army.

What made a despot? Yuu wondered, watching the Queen go scarlet with rage. Was it the hopelessly tyrannical nature of the Queen herself? Of Riddle himself?

No—that was just an easy out.

Then was it the product of their environment? Wonderland that had encouraged the Queen’s madness, Riddle’s mother that had pressured him again and again and again? Was it the fearful residents of Wonderland who refused to stand up to the Queen, the inability of Trey to hurt his friend, the way the Heartslabyul students refused torebel against him?

But that wasn’t it, either. Riddle could have made the choice to stop listening to his mother. Of course, he was obviously not in his right mind due to the way she punished and treated him. However, Trey had said that Riddle responded eagerly to the expectations his parents had shoved onto his slim shoulders. He could have rejected it, but he didn’t.

What was it that made a despot? Yuu thought that in this case, it was the good intentions that had twisted everything beyond measure. The mother’s good intentions to turn her son into a perfect human. The son’s good intentions to listen to his mother. The friend’s good intentions to maintain his friend’s sanity. All of this kindness was more bitter than the cruellest strike.

Yuu opened her eyes in the pre-dawn light filtering through Ramshackle Dorm’s biggest bedroom, Grim a solid weight on her chest. After all this thinking, she still couldn’t get over that look in Riddle’s eyes.

 _I don’t want to do this,_ he’d said. Every time he Beheaded someone she thought she felt him get a little more desperate.

It was very simple. Yuu could think all she wanted about definitions. But she was tired of this emotion that strained her chest every time she remembered those stricken grey eyes.

Yuu usually acted as a bystander. In this world, she was even more of one—someone who obviously didn’t belong. An outlier.

But for the first time in her life, she couldn’t bring herself to keep watching.

She’d planned what she could with Ace and Deuce all day yesterday in preparation for today’s duel. Yet Yuu had read all about how hard it was to form one’s Unique Magic. Riddle had done so at age ten—he was nothing short of a magical prodigy in this world. Chances for victory in a magic-only duel were slim at best.

Yuu lifted Deuce’s foot from over her arm and decided she was done watching from the side-lines.

—

The first notes of fall were beginning to crisp at the bushes in Heartslabyul’s Rose Maze. However, the afternoon’s weather was excellent; Yuu forewent Leona-senpai’s vest in the heat and abandoned her sweater vest halfway through the day, leaving her in a white button-up shirt and jeans.

Ace and Deuce might have been brash and insensitive, but they looked coolly confident as they waited for the challenged party to arrive. The two of them wore a certain unshakeable aloofness that gathered a small audience of Heartslabyul students who had heard about the incoming duel. The crowd whispered nervously as they lined up against the bushes forming the labyrinth, some decked out in the Unbirthday party attire and some still in uniform. It seemed that there was an event originally planned for the afternoon.

Grim was vibrating in excitement on Yuu’s shoulder as she blended in with the crowd of dark blazers and white suit jackets, infecting her with his energy. Her wand buzzed warmly against her sleeve.

Riddle, flanked by Trey and Cater, arrived at the mouth of the maze regally, though his grey eyes still looked shuttered to her. Her chest twinged.

There was no trace of the usual easy-going smile Trey wore; instead, a deep frown was etched into his features. Cater was smiling like always save for a certain strain at the corners of his mouth. Yuu caught the former’s eye and nodded at him; Trey managed a quick upturn of the lips before Crowley swept down out of the sky.

Cater popped up beside her as the Headmaster dictated the rules of the duel, his hazel-green eyes bright with what looked like interest. “Hey Yuu-chan! Are Ace-chan and Deuce-chan _serious_ about aiming for the Dorm Head’s seat?”

“Afternoon,” Yuu smiled back at him, detecting a note of concern in his voice. “It’s more of a desire to make him apologise than anything.”

“I tried to stop them,” Trey sighed from her other side.

Grim snorted.

“I don’t think it’s possible for you to stop them,” she told him, “not when you’re part of the problem.”

Trey frowned at her. “You know I _am_ your senpai.”

“Sorry,” Yuu said sheepishly, covering her mouth. “I’m told I can be insulting when I don’t mean to sometimes.”

“These firsties sure do some dangerous things,” Cater sighed, for once not taking out his phone to snap a picture, though his right hand was tucked loosely in his pocket where it lay. “Hopefully it doesn’t go down the drain.”

“You wouldn’t do something like this?” Yuu asked him.

“Me!?” Cater gave her a look like she was crazy. “Of course not! What good would come out of _that_? It would cause way too many problems!”

“Right.” Cater was probably another Ravenclaw, though he seemed to be trying to hide it.

Crowley cleared his throat and they all fell silent. “I hereby announce the carrying out of the duel for the seat of Heartslabyul Dorm Head!”

Ace and Deuce, both dressed in their white suits from yesterday, took one step forward. Yuu squinted. “Is there really a reason to wear those suits other than to show off?”

“It’s a man’s pride,” Cater told her with a grin, “plus it’ll look good when they get filmed. These are sort of our Dorm uniforms.”

Yuu wondered what the heck a ‘man’s pride’ was as Crowley continued, “The challengers are Ace Trappola and Deuce Spade! The recipient of the challenge is the current Heartslabyul Dormitory Head, Riddle Rosehearts. According to the regulations of Duelling, please remove the magic-sealing collars that are impeding the match.”

“I wish he’d remove mine too,” Grim grumbled, shifting uncomfortably on her shoulder. “It’s so heavy.”

“Don’t worry. They’ll win and then you’ll be free.” And if not, Yuu wasn’t about to sit around and let Grim suffer for much longer. He was her partner, after all.

Riddle flicked back his cape, revealing his Pen, and the collars locked around Ace and Deuce vanished with a trail of sparling light. Yuu wondered if he’d changed his Pen recently. The magic stone attached to it was darker than she’d remembered.

His smile was arrogant and wicked as he watched the two of them rub gratefully at their necks. “It doesn’t matter, since soon enough you’ll have them back on. Enjoy your brief moment of release. …I doubted my ears when I heard you’d challenged me to a duel. Are you two serious?”

Ace glared straight back. “Obviously.”

“I wouldn’t joke about challenging someone to a duel,” Deuce stepped up beside him.

“…Hmph.” Riddle crossed his arms, the smile fading from his face. He looked tired and almost bored, eyes still empty. “Fine. Let’s get this over with quickly.”

“Riddle-kun,” Cater called over, checking his phone, “what do you want to do for tea today?”

Yuu shot him a glance. This guy was kind of a jerk too, wasn’t he?

“What a foolish question. You know what I always do for teatime at 16 o’clock,” Riddle barely spared him a glance. “It is, after all, one of the rules.”

“Ah, yeah, but it’s sort of past fifteen thirty already…” Cater laughed nervously.

Those grey eyes narrowed. “Do you think _I_ would ever be late? This battle will be settled quickly, don’t worry.”

“You know, even without all the whole rules tying him down thing, I think this guy has an inordinate amount of pride in himself,” commented Yuu as Ace and Deuce bristled at the dismissive tone Riddle had taken.

Trey was startled into a genuine laugh. “You might be right.”

“He’s just a jerk,” Grim grumbled, not having forgiven Riddle for the uncomfortable collar.

Riddle sighed and rubbed his delicate brow. “All right, you heard him. I have no time to be wasting, and accepting the duel one person at a time will take up too much. The two of you, come at me together.”

“Whoa! It’s been a while since I’ve seen the Dorm Head that serious!” someone whispered in front of her.

“Go Dorm Head!” shouted someone else.

“Smack ‘em out of shape!” another few chorused.

Trey murmured, “You know they don’t stand a chance.”

Yuu glanced up at him.

He pressed his trilby down on his head, hiding his eyes. “Sorry to rain on your parade when you look so confident. But whether it’s two of ten of them, Riddle will finish the battle in less than a minute.”

“I look confident?” Yuu had never been very good at understanding her emotions.

“I know you believe in your friends,” he started.

“If you know he’s going to win, then why are you wearing such an unhappy expression?” she asked him. “You should be the confident one.”

Trey fell silent.

“I guess the reason I look confident, like you say, is because I’ve broken through my worries a little. Or actually, I just gave up thinking.” Yuu smiled at him. “Sure, I believe in my friends, but I’m not an idiot that blindly trusts them. That’s why I’m here, aren’t I?”

“That’s why you’re here?” Trey repeated, tilting his head up to frown at her.

“Apparently when it comes to my friends, I can’t leave well enough alone,” Yuu sighed. “So I’m not gonna worry about getting in their way anymore.”

“Hey, you say some good stuff, henchman,” Grim grinned from her shoulder.

Trey’s frown deepened. “Hey, transfer. You can’t use any magic. Don’t tell me you’re going to—”

“I’m not going to take that insult lying down,” Deuce cut him off, his voice ringing across the Maze.

“Go get him!” Grim cheered.

“It’s not like we don’t have any strategy,” Ace added. “We’re ready any time.”

Riddle couldn’t be bothered with them. “Headmaster. The signal for the duel, please.”

Crowley drew one of the ornate mirrors that were hanging at his belt and held it high. “The signal for the beginning of this match is when this mirror I throw breaks against the ground.”

Silence reigned in the Maze as he tossed it high, the light glittering off of its silver oval. The air was tight with tension; at the nearly tangible concentration of the three facing each other in the field of fresh grass, Yuu felt the hair at her nape stand on end.

“Ready…”

The mirror fell against stone and shattered into ten thousand tiny shards of glass.

Crowley’s shout of “Fight!” was overwhelmed by Ace and Deuce ducking low and rushing forwards.

—

True to Trey’s words—the duel didn’t last past a minute.

Yuu had a limited grasp on the magic structure of this world. She knew that using it expended ‘magical power,’ and not magic, but was convinced that the magic they were controlling did not come from within them like the magic Hogwarts taught did.

Still barely beginning her fifth year into her magical career, Yuu had barely touched the world of Veela, house-elf and goblin magic—not to mention fey magic—so the more she read about Twisted Wonderland’s take on the power the more confused she’d gotten. Even with all of the books she had been reading this past month, the differences were far too great to absorb so quickly. But with the information she had, she was forced to make a number of assumptions to move forward with her strategy.

This much she’d figured out for certain: the Magical Pen’s stone was a channel for which one’s magic was materialized (a less-sentient wand), and magic was deeply connected with the emotional and mental state of a person. Yuu had counted on this second part when forming a strategy with Ace and Deuce yesterday.

She’d expected Riddle to allow both of them to participate at once, taking into account his abilities and pride, and assigned them one crucial task to do together: take him off guard. Riddle’s magical ability was out of their league, but if they prevented him from executing a spell, they could remain in the running.

Ace and Deuce put up a valiant effort. Their sudden mad dash in Riddle’s direction made him take a startled step back, and their first spells were fast and precise, aimed at his Pen to knock it away. But if she was aware of magical theory, how much more aware could Riddle be? Two slashes through the air and he’d dispelled their attacks—the distraction had not worked well enough.

“ _Off with Your Head_!” he roared, blowing Ace and Deuce backwards with the force of his spell.

Unmindful of the gust of wind that sent the crowd covering their heads, Yuu gathered Grim to her chest and shoved her way up front beside Crowley. “Headmaster!”

As if he’d read her mind, Crowley stayed her with a gloved hand on her arm. “The strength of a spell can be equalled to the strength of one’s imagination,” he said to her softly. “You can see how tangible that spell was. A spell’s accuracy is decided almost entirely by the ability of the caster to visualize—to _know_ the true shape of its effect.”

“You’re saying that Dorm Head’s spell was so strong because he knows the collar so well?”

“And its effects—don’t forget about the sealing of magic.” Crowley released an impressed breath that disappeared behind his mask. “Mister Rosehearts has truly polished this Unique Magic as of late.”

Yuu was grateful that she hadn’t been born in this world. With her poor imagination, she was sure she’d be the weakest caster ever found. If she even had any magical power.

“I’ll give you points for your beginning move,” Riddle lowered his Pen; it caught the light darkly. “For a couple of students in the first year, your only chance was to catch me off guard. But even so, it left too much to be desired. Are you not ashamed of your abilities?”

Yuu wondered briefly if Riddle would’ve been this proud had he not been born under a family of geniuses. Somehow, though, she had the feeling that his smile would always hold that slight arrogance to it.

“When you break the rules, that’s the end of it,” Riddle said coldly. “Nothing can make it right again. …It’s just as Mother said.”

She barely caught the end of the sentence, but Yuu stopped breathing as she saw the way his face twisted as he said it. She hadn’t seen someone make that face since Fred II told her that his father had mistaken him for George Weasley’s twin again.

That—desperately, overflowing, unbearably suffering face.

Maybe Yuu had imagined the expression, because it was gone now—Deuce was saying something about how ridiculous rules being pushed on students was nothing more than tyranny, but there was a dim roaring in her ears that she barely recognised as her pulse racing.

“Yuu-kun?”

Crowley was peering into her face with those golden eyes.

Yuu stared back at him.

“You’re pale as a ghost,” Crowley lowered his voice.

“Fine,” she managed. “Just—remembered something. Grim, I’m going to put you down for a second.”

“Yuu, you okay?” Grim asked her as she set him on the ground gently.

“I’m fine,” she said, “I don’t think anyone else is, though.”

“It doesn’t matter how much idealistic nonsense you spout,” Riddle’s voice rang over to her. “If you break the rules, you will be punished. And rules are decided by the one in power. The power here is me. It’s a simple logic game! All who can’t keep the rules can’t complain when they’re Beheaded!”

“Why do you keep repeating that to yourself?” Yuu blurted out, catching his eye. “Like you’re trying to convince yourself more than anyone. Why do you keep _hurting_ yourself by repeating lies!”

“Whether it’s a lie or not is for _me_ to decide!” he shouted back at her, as if stung. “And stop turning this on me. You couldn’t follow one of the easiest rules.”

“Easiest? I doubt many people would be able to follow all eight hundred and ten rules and stay sane,” Yuu shook off Crowley’s staying hand and took a step forward. “You can talk about rules, rules, rules all you want, but you’re focusing far too hard on something that matters far too little.”

“Matters little?” Riddle laughed, his face twisting in almost a snarl. “You say that because you can’t do it, that’s all. What kind of education have you had? Oh, let me guess. From the looks of you, you couldn’t have been born from parents who could use magic very well, could you?”

“No sir,” Yuu responded, wondering why the topic had changed, “I don’t have an ounce of your magic in my body.”

“And you managed to scrape your way all the way here with a subpar education and a subpar upbringing. Yet you try to defy me? Ignorance really is bliss. I feel sorry for you,” Riddle took a step forward, that same darkness blotting out the lights in his eyes.

Deuce hissed. “You bastard—”

“You’re full of _SHIT_!”

Yuu actually jumped as Ace, who’d approached her right side somewhere during the exchange, lunched forwards and drove his fist straight into Riddle’s cheek. A collective gasp rippled through the watching students as Riddle stumbled back, clutching his face.

“Riddle!” Trey shouted from somewhere behind them, overlapping with Cater’s cry of “Riddle-kun!”

The pounding in Yuu’s ears cleared up a bit and she realized she’d moved into the middle of the makeshift arena without realizing it. What impulse had—?

Ace backed her up a step, his suit jacket bumping into her nose. His shoulders were heaving, and she finally noticed that he was _furious_ , his pupils blown wide and lips pulled back from his teeth.

“That was one clean right hook,” whistled Grim from somewhere behind them.

“Ace!?” Deuce gaped at the same time as Crowley managed, “Mister Trappola!”

Ace shook out his fist, straightening; the anger retreated back into his eyes, but his voice still burned with it. “…I’m done. Forget it. Who cares about being a Dorm Head or a duel or anything anymore?”

“Did you just…” Riddle said blankly, his large eyes open in almost childlike surprise. “Did you just punch me?”

“ _Ace_ ,” Yuu caught his shoulder as he made to move forwards again. Once again, she remembered what Headmistress McGonagall had said to her. About only being able to calm down if one saw someone even less calm than they are. The pounding in her ears had faded when she’d seen how angry he was.

Which meant…

“You okay?” Deuce muttered to her in undertone.

“I was…” Yuu whispered to herself.

“Was?”

“I was angry?”

Her epiphany went unheard. Ace had managed to swallow down the impulse for a second punch. “Listen. Kids aren’t their parent’s trophies, and a kid’s behaviour doesn’t determine their parent’s value,” he gritted out. “I’d thought you were a pitiful guy after hearing what Trey-senpai had to say, but from the looks of it, it’s obvious that your being full of shit has nothing to do with your parents.”

“Ace,” she hurried to interrupt.

“You stop defending him when he said all that about you!” Ace snapped at her before turning back to Riddle. “Apart from this idiotically nice kid here, not a _single_ person has warned you to stop or even tried to give you advice in your year of schooling, have they? And obviously they haven’t. ‘Cause you’re like _that_! Insulting those who aren’t like you!”

“…What are you…saying?” Riddle’s eyes looked as if they were made of crystal. His reddening cheek went unnoticed. In fact, she was wondering if he was really registering anything that was going on around him.

“Sure, you might’ve gone through some brutal education system with that uptight mom of yours,” Ace blasted on, “but are you seriously just going to listen to whatever she says and assume that’s right? Just going to stop thinking otherwise? All you can do is believe what mommy says? What ‘red ruler’—you’re just a baby with magic!”

“A…baby…? Me…?” Riddle repeated, colour rising in his pale neck. “…You don’t know anything about me. Stop talking like you know when I’ve been through!”

“I don’t,” Ace sneered, “as if I would know with the attitude you take all the time. Stop expecting people to bend over backwards to please you!”

“Ace, that’s enough,” snapped Yuu, “there’s a difference between attacking him because you’re angry and trying to fix the problem.”

“He insulted you,” Ace said quite reasonably. “He needs to be able to take what he dishes out.”

Yuu stared at his completely unrepentant expression, all the momentum rushing out of her with surprise. “Dude,” she said, “you really are a sociopath.”

“Shut up.” Riddle’s face twisted in anger. “Shut up! Shut up shut up shut _up!_ Mother’s words are correct!! That’s why _I’m absolutely correct!_ ”

“Riddle!” Trey fought his way out of the crowd to approach his childhood friend. “The match is over. Calm down!”

Crowley took a step forward. “As Mister Clover says. The challenger is disqualified due to use of physical force! All parties stand down.”

“I’m sick of this!” someone shouted in the crowd. “It’s as the new student says. The Dorm Head’s way too strict!”

Something white sailed past her head and broke against Riddle’s cape. A funny silence fell over them as everyone stared at the runny trail of broken egg bleeding down the red-and-black fabric.

Trey’s ochre eyes widened in shock. “…An egg…one of the students!”

“ _Who is it!_ ” Riddle flung his cape off, whirling on the students gathered as it flew into the air behind him. “Who threw the egg at me?”

The crowd went fearfully silent. Yuu and Ace traded disgusted glances. “They could at least show their face if they’re gonna throw an egg,” she muttered.

“Cowards,” Deuce spat.

“I mean, he kind of deserves it,” Ace started just to be a jerk. Yuu socked him gently in the arm.

The silence was broken by Riddle’s low laughter. As if someone had cut a string holding him up straight, he doubled over before smiling at the crowd with a wild look in his eye. “Ha ha…Ha ha ha. Sick of this? The one who’s _sick_ of this is me.”

Grim hopped up beside Deuce, whispering, “I think he snapped.”

“No matter how many times,” Riddle’s voice trembled lowly. “No matter how many times I Behead you. No matter how many times I repeat the rules you all _still break them!_ Every last one of you is so _small_ and self-centred!”

His voice had risen to an uncontrolled shout so that it strained. Yuu could feel it in the air, that same look that had distorted his face was in that voice. The boiling seething frustration that had no escape.

“Very well,” Riddle smiled madly. “If no one’s going to answer, then I’ll hold you all responsible together. All of you! _Off with Your Head!_ ”

The magnitude of the magic spell was palpable as it rushed through the crowd. Chaos descended. A great cry rose up from those watching as clicks of metal snapped collars into place on the necks of all of the watching students. They scattered, shouting and screaming, completely overpowered by the strength of Riddle’s rage.

“Run! There’s no telling what he’ll do!”

“My neck—”

“Gah…we gotta get out of here!”

“ _Ah ha ha ha_ _ha_!” Riddle tilted his head back and laughed freely, spreading his gloved hands before him. “Look! None of you can stand against me. In the end, the one who adheres to the rules is _right_. _I’m_ the most correct out of all of you!”

“Stop right there, Mister Rosehearts! The match was over!” Crowley shouted. “This isn’t like you! Personal fighting is forbidden!”

Trey and Cater made to move forward. “Riddle!” the former shouted, a note of urgency creeping into his voice, “That’s enough! Stop using your magic!”

“Just because you’re right doesn’t mean everything’s going to go your way,” Ace couldn’t resist egging him on. “It’s ‘cause you throw tantrums like this that you’re such a baby!”

“You moron, are you trying to get us killed!?” Deuce shouted.

Riddle whirled on him, the red spreading up his neck to colour his face and darken the forming bruise. “You take that back right now! Do you want me to skewer you!?”

“ _Skewer_!?” yelped Yuu.

“I’ve never seen anyone go that red,” Deuce whispered, looking a little ill.

Ace, of course, didn’t even hesitate. “No way. I’ll _never_ take it back.”

Riddle screamed in wordless anger, readying his Pen, and the entire garden trembled with the force of his anger. Every hair on the back of her neck stood up on end. There was something distorted in the air—

Cater shouted, “Everyone get out of here _right now_!”

Yuu managed to tackle Grim from behind her just as the trembling ground exploded where he stood. The two of them rolled a few times in the grass until a shower of dirt blasted them into a bush.

She coughed out dirt. “Grim!”

“I’m okay!” He responded from around her chest. “That guy’s gone crazy!”

“That was mostly Ace’s fault,” she said. “I might punch _him_ when this is all over.”

When they stood up again, the Rose Maze was no longer a well-curated sunny garden.

Clouds—or maybe it was dust—blotted out the blue sky, clumps of dirt leaving the ground as it shook. The air around was dusty and reddish-brown. Cans of paint had spilt across the green grass, sending patches of red everywhere and tripping the unfortunate student who’d taken an unlucky step into a slide. Scarlet smeared everywhere.

Through the dust Yuu saw that the reason for the dirt storm were the rosebushes that had risen into the air. As she watched, another one trembled as it uprooted itself—no, as Riddle’s magic ripped it out of the ground.

Yuu shook briefly in fright. This was not the same as a burst of uncontrolled magic that had pulled library books out of the shelves for her when she was six. It was simply pure, unadulterated power. In her years at Hogwarts she’d only seen the Whomping Willow produce this much raw power.

Grim went very small in her arms. “All of the trees are floating…”

“Yuu!” Deuce, coughing, jogged up to her. “You okay? Stay close to me! I’ve never seen a piece of magic this big!”

“Deuce!” Yuu hung onto his hand in relief. “Where’s Ace!? Riddle might be aiming at him!”

“O Trees of Rose!” Riddle’s dignified voice echoed over to them; Yuu found Ace who’d been knocked against a bush with the Dorm Head standing directly in front of him. “ _Rip him to pieces_!”

Yuu panicked, dropping Grim. She ripped the button of her sleeve open and drew her wand in a rush. “ _Ace!_ ”

The rosebushes trembled and rushed towards Ace _too quickly_ —but before her eyes they popped out of existence and suddenly a shower of playing cards fell at Ace’s feet in a burst of multicoloured lights.

Ace cracked one eye open from where he’d folded in on himself. Very calmly, he picked one up. “I’m alive. What are these, cards?”

“How did all of the trees change into cards?” Deuce was muttering, but Yuu had caught on; she spun around and located Trey, who had his Magical Pen held out in front of him grimly.

“Riddle,” he said quietly, “that’s enough.”

“Trey, your Doodle Suit…!” Cater gasped, getting to his feet.

Grim gasped from her feet. “My collar’s gone!”

“Didn’t I tell you?” Trey explained in a low voice. “I can replace any attribute with another. So I replaced ‘Riddle’s magic’ with ‘my magic’. It won’t last long, though, we need to get out of here fast.”

“That’s just as big of a spell as Dorm Head just used,” Yuu murmured, impressed. “And he used his magic to switch out the trees at the same time as using his Unique Magic to overwrite all of Dorm Head’s magic.”

“You can do that!?” Cater spluttered, echoing her thoughts, “that’s practically cheating!”

“…Tch!” Riddle was staring through Trey as if he couldn’t see him. The Dorm Head turned his Pen on the few surrounding people left as they ran pell-mell, trying fruitlessly to recast his Unique Magic. “ _Off with Your Head!_ I said _Off with Your Head!_ Why are _cards coming out of my Pen!?_ ”

The dust started to settle as cards replaced the dirt in a spray of white, revealing Trey nearing his friend, one bead of sweat running down the side of his face. “Riddle, that’s _enough_. If you keep going, you’ll only be isolating yourself. Look at the faces of the people around you!”

The few unlucky students who had failed to get away in the confusion had gathered together, staring at Riddle in a mixture of loathing and fear.

“He was really going to stab him…”

“The guy’s gone crazy…!”

“He’s not human…”

Riddle took in their huddled forms without particularly recognising them. He stared emptily at his Pen, which looked nearly black. “…Huh?” he emitted. “…My magic was…overwritten by Trey’s?”

“Riddle,” Trey shut his eyes, “it’s not—”

“So you’re saying,” Riddle shook, “that your magic is more powerful than mine.”

“No!” Trey shouted, losing his cool for the first time she’d seen him. “That’s not what—”

“So you’re more powerful than me!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, as if _that’s_ true!” Trey sucked in a steadying breath. “Riddle. Listen to me and compose yourself. I—”

“You too?” Riddle looked up. His eyes were empty. “You think I’m wrong too? Even after all I went through to keep those unbearable rules!?”

“Riddle—!” Trey looked stricken.

“Even after I endured and endured and endured!” Riddle’s face contorted in the unbearably heart wrenching expression. “I…I…I refuse!”

“His Pen!” Crowley was somewhere by the fleeing students. “Mister Rosehearts, you cannot use anymore magic! Your magic stone is already almost full of Blot!”

Riddle clutched his head, gasping. His huge grey eyes stared into nothing as a dull red transformed his face. “I’m…I’m… _absolutely right!_ ”

His Pen flashed. Trey covered his face. “ _RIDDLE!_ ”

Riddle let out a bellow and pointed his Pen at his friend, the pen tipped with the dark magic stone.

But she could not let him attack his friend, not Trey who had walked a tightrope for years and suffered silently alongside him.

Yuu sprinted in Trey’s direction. “ _Protego maxima!_ ”

The yew wand she had received when she was eleven was imbued with a Dragon heartstring as its core. Mister Olliviander had told her with a rueful smile all those years ago that the heartstring she had was the only one that had been taken from a Hungarian Horntail that had murdered an entire squad sent to tame it. He’d warned her that dragon heartstrings tended to be the most prone to accidental magic, that this wand was eager to involve itself in a fight.

The last time she’d used her wand was back in June for her exams. A long time—too long for her wand. A great heady rush of magic numbed her arm; the rigid yew thrummed and exulted in the return of its use and the shield _exploded_ from its tip so violently that she nearly fell over in her scramble to approach Trey and Riddle.

Whatever Riddle had tried to cast at Trey fizzled against the silvery white barrier and cracked it before bouncing off. Yuu gasped at the unbelievable force behind the spell—it had outstripped every other spell she had defended herself against in her lifetime. She glanced over; Trey was looking at Riddle with a sort of shock that suggested he hadn’t even noticed he could have died.

Yuu let the shield dissipate, ready to cast a second one, but Riddle’s Pen was leaking great dollops of viscous black ink that dripped on the ground instead of the light usually accompanying spellcasting. Dimly, Yuu remembered Crowley saying something about not using anymore magic—and Riddle had ignored the warning—but why was the Pen leaking?

That same uneasy feeling jolted up her spine. She had felt this before, in a dream long forgotten. Every hair on the back of her neck stood on end.

There was dark liquid dripping everywhere now. From Riddle’s Pen and out of his pale fingers and sleeves, eating them away like acid; he turned his stare on her and his beautiful grey eyes were glowing an angry scarlet and his right eye lit on _fire_ as black ink leaked down his forehead and neck.

Riddle’s feet lifted from the ground. Wind whipped around the three of them and made her close her eyes for a brief moment to protect them—when she wrenched them back open, his entire uniform had changed. His once-white suit was dyed in the black ink that dripped from his skin like so many tears gathering at his feet. Even the golden crown that the Dorm Head wore was suffused in the liquid, forming a latticework around his body like a queen’s ballgown. His scarlet eyes burned with an unearthly glow and scattered flames around his right cheek that did not burn.

Yuu had never seen something like this transformation, and the black was still spreading, still growing as Riddle threw back his head and laughed in a voice deepened and layered with power.

“You fools who dare to revolt against me,” he said lowly. “I don’t need the likes of you in my world.”

Yuu held her wand in front of her and shoved Trey back behind her—he was still staring at Riddle as if he’d lost his soul. “What’s happening?!” she shouted.

“In my world!” Riddle’s voice echoed endlessly across the maze. “ _I_ am the law. I create and enforce the rules! And I will not allow any answer other than _yes, lord Riddle._ ”

Something had snapped, realised Yuu too late. Trey’s magic had been the last straw. His careful abstaining from involvement had been holding Riddle back from this—whatever this was, which was why Trey had been so reluctant to do anything, because he had foreseen this, this ink-soaked Riddle who lifted his hands in the sky and laughed a chillingly cold laugh that shook the very air.

She remembered how Auror-Professor Potter had described Voldemort to them one class, when a bunch of Gryffindors had wanted to know what it was like being a hero.

“ _His laugh was the coldest thing I’d ever heard_ ,” she remembered him saying. But it couldn’t be colder than this. Than the expression of giving into despair that the person in front of her was wearing right now.

Riddle had been careening towards this event horizon for the last several days; his whole life he’d spent trapped, collared just like his Unique Magic, barely able to breathe. And now, he had tipped over the edge completely.

“I’ll Behead _anyone_ who dares to rise against me!” Riddle declared. His scarlet eyes darkened in pure unadulterated glee as he laughed for the world to hear.

Crowley appeared by them. “How could I have let a student Overblot right in front of me?” he gasped theatrically.

“What!?” Yuu barely spared him a glance. “Why does he have such a Dark aura around him? Headmaster!”

“Overblotting is the one thing magicians must prevent at all costs,” the dramatic tone to his voice faded slightly. “In effect, Mister Rosehearts has lost control of the magic and his emotions due to the negative energy overwhelming him.”

“What?” she repeated dumbly. “So it’s not Dark magic?”

“If you wanna put it simply, he’s fallen to the dark side,” Cater managed, jogging up to them. His eyes were dead serious in the chaos as he tugged her backwards. “Anyway, it’s too dangerous to stay here. With his magic, he could really kill someone. You guys need to get out of here, especially Yuu-chan, since you have no way to defend yourself.”

“Did you not just see me?” Yuu gaped at him.

“What?” Cater said distractedly.

Trey snapped out of it with a gasp. “We can’t let this keep going,” he said urgently, “Riddle’s own life is in danger right now.”

“ _His life_!?” Yuu spluttered. Everything was spiralling out of control.

“All students follow me!” Crowley cried, already heading for the entrance to Heartslabyul dorm. “Lives are at stake! And after this, we must return Riddle to sanity before his magic power runs out.”

“His magic power!?” Yuu repeated. “I thought he was just controlling magic!”

“All magic power is generated from within!” Crowley called over. “Yuu-kun, you must run. It will be terrible if he loses his life, but in the worst case…”

“I’ll go get a teacher!” Cater said, his smile non-existent. In this moment she finally saw the fierce intelligence and seriousness that brightened his hazel eyes.

“Yes, find other teachers or someone to—”

“So I was wrong,” she muttered to herself. “I was thinking too much. All magic is the same.”

 _All magic followed the same principles_. Given this, Riddle’s transformation could only mean one thing: corruption due to Dark Magic.

She couldn’t let this happen.

“Yuu-kun?” Crowley’s voice was hard with caution.

Riddle lifted his Pen. Yuu spun around and levelled her wand at him, slashing it to the side. “ _Impedimenta!_ ”

The jet of light hit him head-on; Riddle was blasted back a couple of inches, blinking sluggishly. He turned on her with those red eyes. “You…!”

Now that she recognized this new and unusual feeling as ‘anger’, it bloomed headily in her stomach and brightened her vision like a rush of gamma to a computer screen. The feeling gathered as a tingling in her wand so that magic zapped the air in front of her in a hiss of sparks, lifting her hair.

“Yuu!?” Ace and Deuce gasped.

“Henchman!” Grim shouted from their other side.

“What on earth!?” Crowley breathed.

“Everyone get out of here!” Yuu barked, mouth set in a grim line. “As if I’ll let him die—let him fall if I can help it. _Flipendo!_ ”

“Ugh!” The Knockback jinx moved him back slightly more violently. Riddle snarled, “ _Off with Your Head!_ ”

“I told you,” Yuu said calmly, letting the sparkling of bright light rush through her neck. “I don’t have a single ounce of your magic. You can’t seal mine. _Expelliarmus!_ ”

Riddle summoned a gust of fire which consumed her spell before it could hit him. “I don’t know what you are,” he growled, “but I won’t let you stop me! Not a brat like you!”

“ _Stupefy!_ ” she cried. “Stop doing this to yourself!”

“Hah!” he cut through her Stunner with a slash of wind-based magic. “You don’t know anything about me!”

“As if I _care_. Listen well, Riddle Rosehearts,” Yuu planted her heels into the ground and pointed the wand right at his forehead. “I’m not here to argue semantics with you the way everyone else did. I’m here to save you.”

—

It had been a long time since she’d duelled.

Unlike most of Hogwarts’ young students, Yuu did not find pleasure in Defence Against the Dark Arts, nor did she see the point in winning and losing duels. It was the same for Quidditch; she had never quite understood what it was that brought so many people into a tizzy when they watched.

Her favourite subject involving spellwork was undoubtedly Charms—she loved to fiddle with spells, find out the theory of their working and what made them strong and weak. She liked to alter bits of spells and make them more suited to her needs. Had done some research with Professor Flitwick.

Unlike Charms, Yuu thought fighting and Defence was rather unnecessary in the wake of the defeat of the Dark Wizard Voldemort. In-class duels were lacklustre and the Duelling Club filled with people who liked to bully others. Duelling was boring and pointless.

Until now.

Just like she’d been wrong about the magic of this world, Yuu had been wrong about duelling. It _was_ necessary—if not in wizarding Britain, then in Twisted Wonderland, in the Heartslabyul dorm, in front of Riddle who was bleeding ink and dying with Darkness in his eyes. For duelling was the only way she could think of to stop him.

To hell with the Statute of Secrecy. To hell with the Trace. In a world she might never be able to escape from, Yuu was not about to hide under a mask of uselessness when she had seen the pain in this face right in front of her.

When not a single person had reached out to him.

When just like her—he had been all alone.

Ace, Deuce and Grim were watching her, but she resolved not to look at them, not wanting to see the betrayal, the shock on their faces as she hurled jinx after spell at Riddle’s floating form. Trey and Cater hovered within peripheral range, looking confused and grim; Crowley had given her a long look before herding the students from the destroyed maze.

But Riddle was strong. A prodigy—even without the use of his Unique Magic, which could not affect her, conjuring fire and water were well within his arsenal.

Yuu ducked and rolled under a stream of fire. “ _Aguamenti_!” she hissed, blasting water in its direction to prevent a burn. A cloud of steam obscured the air around her which she Banished with a slash of her wand.

The steam cleared, revealing Riddle—and a huge monstrous cloud of ink forming the body of the Queen of Hearts, towering behind him like a puppeteer. She’d seen the figure in her dreams; now it was larger than life, outsizing Riddle by more than four times, dripping with ink.

Yuu gasped. “What _is_ that!?”

“We saw the same phial of ink for a head back in the Mines on Mount Dwarf!” Ace shouted over. Indeed, in place of where a head would be was a glass heart filled with the same black ink dripping everywhere, screwed tight with a stopper in the form of a crown. The huge beast behind Riddle ripped a bush out of the ground and hurled it at her.

“ _Arresto momentum_!” Yuu shouted, slowing it down, and whipped her wand to the side. “ _Mobiliarbus!_ ”

The bush soared over the maze harmlessly, eliciting shouts of shock from her friends. Yuu shouted over at Riddle, “Dorm Head! What’s that behind you!?”

“I’m right,” he was growling, “I’m _right_! Don’t get in my way! I have to be right!”

The Queen behind him raised its inky arm.

Yuu aimed at it and snapped out, “ _Expulso_!”

For the first time in their fruitless duel, she saw the ink disappear; the Queen staggered backwards, its ink arm tearing in a splatter, and Riddle sank a few inches towards the ground.

“Aim for the puppeteer,” Yuu muttered, mind whirring, “got it. _Bombarda!_ ”

“Oi, transfer!” Trey shouted, jogging up to her, “What are you doing!?”

“I think getting rid of that thing behind him will get rid of the ink or whatever!” Yuu shouted back grimly. “Ace and Deuce got rid of one of these things the first day of school.”

“But—!”

“You just watch me,” Yuu said roughly, “I’m going to finish this. _Protego!_ ”

The whirlwind aimed for Trey bounced against the shield she’d erected around him just in time.

“Transfer,” Cater shouted, “You can’t do this by yourself.”

Yuu laughed. “Watch me! _Immobulus! Bombarda Maxima!_ ”

“Holy shit!” he gasped as the Queen reeled backwards, an explosion rocking its shoulder, “That’s the most destructive magic I’ve…wait a second, why can you—!”

“Stop getting in my way!” Riddle screamed. “Why do you have to keep getting in my _way_!?”

“Because no one else is helping you!” Yuu shouted back. “ _Incendio!_ I’m not the best Duellist, but I said I’d save you. So just let yourself be saved, starting with that ink queen. _Scourgify!_ ”

“I don’t need you to save me!” Riddle’s voice cracked. “I’m correct! It’s you who’s wrong! You don’t know anything about what I’ve been through!”

Panting, Yuu barely put a shield up in time to absorb a bolt of lightning. “That’s right. I don’t know you! I have no idea what it’s like to have a parent that controls your every movement. I’ve never had anyone care about me like that!” she shouted back.

“Transfer,” Trey whispered.

“What do you know!” Riddle screamed.

“Nothing!” she shouted back. “Because no one’s ever put expectations on me. No one’s cared enough to give me rules. Unlike you, I was abandoned the second I was born! I’m lucky because I’m freer than you are. That’s why I’m trying to tell you that you’re only hurting yourself!”

“…I can’t stop now.” Riddle looked at her with his empty red eyes. “Otherwise…why have I…what have I been living for…”

Trey sucked in a breath.

“I can’t tell you what to live for,” Yuu told him, “But I can tell you that your mother was wrong and that you were wrong.”

“I—!”

“Which is fine!” she shouted. Riddle stopped in surprise. “Everyone is wrong sometimes. What is _not_ fine is you desperately repeating the things she forced you to learn because you don’t know anything else! I won’t let you suffer in the dark anymore. I won’t let you tie yourself to these chains anymore! Even if it means I have to fight you to do it! _Diffindo!_ _Reducto!_ ”

A great crack formed in the vial of the Queen’s head.

“Leave me alone!” Riddle cried, clutching his head desperately. “I don’t want your help!”

“I don’t care!” she yelled back. “I can’t take that look on your face anymore. I’m doing this for my own selfishness, so I don’t need your permission! _Avis!_ ”

A great cluster of ravens burst from the tip of her wand. She heard Grim and Ace yelling something, but Yuu concentrated on the Queen’s deteriorating body and shouted, “ _Oppugno!_ _Verdillious! Diffindo!_ ”

“Stop it!” Riddle shouted at her. “Don’t come close to me!”

The Queen behind him lifted its hands as he lifted his. His next spell was too fast and hit her just left of her heart, sending her flying backwards into the ground with a rush of breath.

Yuu cried out in pain, but struggled to her knees immediately after. “ _Diffindo maxima_!”

The Queen’s bodice exploded into a splatter of ink.

Riddle swayed and touched the ground. “I’m not wrong,” he muttered deliriously, lifting his Pen again, “not wrong, Mother, not wrong—”

“Oi, Yuu!”

She rolled out of the way of another hurled rosebush. Yuu struggled to her feet just in time to take a direct hit to the stomach.

“ _Yuu!_ ”

Lights popped in her vision as she went airborne, retching. Yuu clutched her head and braced for impact with the ground.

It never came. Two sets of arms caught her roughly, steadying her upright; when she squinted dizzily, unable to open her watering eyes completely, Ace and Deuce were peering concernedly into her face.

“Are you okay!?” Deuce shouted. “I told you to stop taking hits for people!”

“You idiot. You absolute idiot. You had to get involved. I told you to stop being so disgustingly self-sacrificing you absolute _idiot_ ,” Ace spat out.

Yuu whipped her wand past his head. “ _Petrificius totalus! Stupefy_!” she gasped out.

“Henchman!” Grim leapt onto her shoulder. “Leave it to me. _Funaa!_ ”

Following her Stunner was a cloud of blue fire. The great hulking queen reared back to avoid it, giving them a brief respite.

Deuce sighed. “I guess we don’t have a choice.”

“Can’t let Yuu do _all_ the work, can we,” Ace turned and rolled his eyes at her. “You just stay there like the injured idiot you are and let us finish it off.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said weakly, “I said I’d save him. Stand down.”

“You don’t be ridiculous,” Grim snapped in unusual anger, “you’re about to pass out.”

“No I’m not. I have to see this to the end. Otherwise I won’t know if the Darkness disappears, will I?” Yuu struggled a few steps past Ace and Deuce. “’Cause I said…I’d…”

The colour seemed to be fading out of the world. Yuu wondered absently why everything was spinning. Still, she was close, the Queen was damaged, and there were great cracks forming in the phial that held the ink.

Yuu levelled her wand at the dripping ink behind Riddle. “It’s okay,” she said slowly, “I’ve handled worse. _Confringo!_ ”

Ink splattered everywhere as the Queen exploded into shards of glass and liquid. Riddle hit the ground; Yuu staggered over to him but tripped and fell before she could reach his prone form.

“Mother,” Riddle gasped, his dark costume ripped and torn. Yet the dark pattern had faded from his face.

“You should become a bit more independent from your controlling parents,” Yuu told him deliriously, peering down to his wonderfully grey eyes, “otherwise you’ll explode from the stress. Again.”

“Why…?” he stared up at her starkly.

Yuu managed a shaky smile, wondering why there were three of him. “I told you…I’d save you, didn’t I?”

—

Crowley was murmuring something. His distinctive clear voice was lowered in sobriety.

Yuu regained awareness slowly as his voice seeped into her hearing. She had been dreaming about a boy who had begged for a strawberry tart for his birthday. About a mother who dismissed every opinion the boy might have had for himself. About the boy crawling out of a window to play with two other boys, and then coming home to the mother tapping her heel on the ground…

For the first time in her life, Yuu was rather grateful for her absent parents.

—Riddle. Was he all right?

She jerked upright with a start and almost tumbled out of Crowley’s arms.

“My word!” He adjusted his grip on her, voice rising in comical surprise. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”

“Sorry.” Yuu brushed his words off impatiently. “Sir, where’s the Dorm Head? Is he still trapped by the Darkness? How long was I out? Is Grim and Ace and Deuce—”

“Slow down, dear,” Crowley peered down into her face and narrowed his golden eyes in a smile. “You’re an injured party, you know. More injured than he is.”

“So he’s still trapped by the ink!?” Yuu tried to struggle upright and hissed with pain. “Sir, please put me down, I have to…”

“Absolutely not!” Crowley snapped. “You’re injured! We are going to the infirmary.”

“But—”

“—Where Mister Rosehearts is recovering, if you would let me finish,” Crowley sighed. “My word, youngsters these days are so impatient.”

“Oh…” Yuu let herself fall backwards with a sigh of relief. “…Wait, Headmaster, you can put me down now.”

“Nonsense. Could you walk if I put you down now?” Crowley made no noise when he walked, so that it felt more like he was gliding across the ground. Come to think of it, this man always moved quietly. When he descended into the fields during Flight classes, when he appeared in the library, when he climbed in from her window—Crowley never created sound.

She should have found it suspicious—right now, it was just reassuring.

Yuu muttered something about being heavy and princess carries being embarrassing, but she was dizzy enough to rest her head against his shoulder obediently. “How long was I out?”

“No more than half an hour. We would have taken you to the infirmary earlier, but it was of the essence to get Mister Rosehearts examined right away for any aftereffects of the Overblot. I do apologize.”

“I need to know what that is,” she muttered, “do you have a book on it?”

“All in good time, dear.”

Yuu made a face and looked around them. They were in the second-floor exterior hallway that was exposed to the outside coliseum-style; the sky was starting to glow magenta with the late afternoon air. “Everyone else was all right, right?”

“ _You_ were the most damaged of all of them,” Crowley sniffed. “Mister Clover even said that you were the one who almost single-handedly returned Mister Rosehearts back to sanity. Worry about yourself a little, shall we?”

“I’m fine,” she shrugged. “Or I will be. I don’t think I broke anything.”

“…We will probably need to have a conversation,” Crowley sighed, “about your inclination to put yourself in the road of danger.”

Yuu tilted her head up to view the slim chin poking out from under his mask. “Headmaster, aren’t you going to ask me about something else?”

“Hmm?”

“Something more important?” she hinted. “Like how I was able to stop him in the first place?”

“All in good time,” Crowley didn’t seem very bothered. “Right now, I am more concerned about your stunning lack of self-care. You know your BMI is alarmingly low.”

“You can measure my BMI just by lifting me?!” spluttered Yuu. But she couldn’t distract herself from her dream. “…Headmaster, is he going to be okay?”

“Mister Rosehearts?”

“…Where I come from,” she said quietly, “Dark Magic is…really bad for people.”

“Ah…” Crowley paused. “I wouldn’t be too worried. Mister Rosehearts has several people around him that will probably check that danger.”

That was true. Yuu sighed and pressed her nose into Crowley’s nice-smelling vest. “Phew.”

“I told you that this school was full of the starving,” Crowley’s movement slowed. “Do you remember?”

“Hmm? Yeah, I guess.”

“Be careful about feeding beasts without thinking.” He said with gravity. “Not unless you’re prepared to take responsibility for owning them.”

“Huh?” Yuu emitted. “I think you lost me on this metaphor, Headmaster.” Crowley loved to use the ‘beast-taming’ metaphor, but she never really understood what he meant. Especially since he refused to explain.

“We’re here,” he ignored her, pausing in front of the infirmary door, which had been left open.

No one noticed them when they entered—Yuu supposed that if there was one thing Crowley was good at, it was entering and leaving silently. Sometimes he would sit in on their history classes and surprise-quiz them, scaring half the students out of their seats.

Riddle sat on one of the infirmary beds with the curtains drawn back to reveal his small figure. Ace and Deuce were sitting on stools by his bedside, Grim lying rather comically over Ace’s head. By Riddle’s other side sat Trey, who had taken off his trilby to expose his dark green hair tousled into an even messier state than it normally was. They were conversing in low voices. When Riddle turned to Trey, she saw the remnants of tear tracks on his face over the reddish-purple bruise on his left cheek.

Ace had landed a solid punch, Yuu winced with memory.

“It looks like no complications were found in the Mister Rosehearts’ check-up,” Crowley said without warning. Yuu stifled a laugh as all five residents jumped a little. “Good, good.”

He set Yuu on the hospital bed beside Riddle’s in a surprisingly gentle manner, even taking the time to tuck her in under the sheets. Yuu tried to hide her wince—that thing had gotten her pretty hard in the shoulder and stomach. Again. Why did she get injured in the same places all the time?

“Yuu!” Grim dove at her face without a pause. Yuu yelped. “You’re alive!”

“Alive?” she peeled him off gently from around her cheeks and squeezed him to her. “It was just a couple of hits.”

“You flew across the garden like—” Ace slammed his hands on the side of her bed, crowding into her personal space, “—an idiot!”

“You sure like calling me an idiot,” Yuu deadpanned, meeting him nose to nose.

“Seriously, stop doing that,” Deuce rubbed his head tiredly, sitting at the foot of her bed, “it’s bad for my heart.”

Grim sniffed, looking like he might cry. “It was scary.”

“Sorry,” Yuu said, a little touched. “You guys worried about me?”

“Just ‘cause you’re not used to your parents caring about you or whatever doesn’t mean we won’t,” Ace said frankly.

Yuu winced. “Uh, can we forget about that please? It’s not really important.”

“Yuu, I never knew you had such a home life,” Deuce grabbed her hand. “Don’t worry, I—”

“Let’s just forget about it,” she sing-songed, swinging his hand back and forth, “I’m fine, you’re fine, we’re all fine, wait. Wait, Dorm Head! Is Dorm Head fine?”

“I am,” Riddle called from the next bed over. “Thanks to you, it seems.”

Yuu perked up and struggled out from under the sheets despite her friends’ protests, stumbling over to his bedside and taking Ace’s seat. “Rosehearts-senpai! You’re okay!”

“Oi, stop moving around when you’re hurt!” Deuce started.

“Don’t worry, I’m _fine_ ,” she waved him off.

Riddle looked a world apart from that desperately screaming boy in the garden. Dressed neatly in a hospital gown with his hair straightened, he was back to the dignified, delicate Dorm Head with the huge grey eyes. More importantly, the ink was gone—the darkness in his gaze had cleared.

When she took the vacated seat by him eagerly, he gave her a rather curious stare. “I seem to have caused you quite a bit of trouble.”

“Oh, who cares about that,” Yuu waved it off impatiently. “I need to apologise to you.”

“Apologise?” Riddle repeated, blinking. “I can find numerous times where I should have apologised to you, Directing Student, not the opposite.”

“Are you kidding me? I yelled all sorts of things at you earlier,” Yuu winced, “and a while ago I even called you a fool when you obviously aren’t one. So, I’m sorry.”

She put her head down. Yuu still wasn’t sure exactly ‘where’ this world corresponded to, but they spoke Japanese here, so she would apologise the Japanese way.

“…Lift your head,” Riddle’s voice was gentler than expected.

Yuu looked up at him. He was contemplating her with a stability in those grey eyes that had not existed before. Riddle smiled at her and said, “You were right. I was a fool.”

Yuu stared. Who was this person?

“Trey told me what the four of you were talking about the other day,” Riddle elaborated, adjusting himself against the pillows. “Honestly, when I look back at my actions, you’re absolutely correct. To lose control of myself in such an undignified manner is nothing more than the work of a fool. You made me notice that, Directing Student—no, Yuu.”

“Dorm Head,” Yuu said, moved. “I always knew you were a good person.”

“Good person!?” yelped Ace from behind her.

“Seriously!?” Grim muttered from her shoulder.

Riddle wrinkled his brow at them, but didn’t protest. Yuu thought this might have been the greatest mark of growth she’d seen from someone—anyone—yet. Crowley had been right.

Riddle would be fine.

“I’d been thinking the whole time,” Yuu explained. “After listening to your story from Trey-senpai and watching you suffer, I couldn’t get over why you let yourself be crushed under that rock for seventeen years. If it was me, I couldn’t have taken it.”

“Ah,” Riddle’s eyes went dark with remembered pain. “You mistake me, Yuu. I was merely too cowardly to stand up against Mother.”

Yuu remembered the little boy asking for the tart. “That’s not it,” she said strongly. “You had the ability to break away, and it _isn’t_ just because you were too afraid to disobey her. Sure, there was the whole Skinner’s box thing of reward-punishment that she was forcing you into, but you’re too intelligent to be brainwashed that easily.”

“You sure have a high opinion of me.” Riddle raised both brows at her.

“That’s why you’re a good person,” Yuu told him. “You willingly did it. You willingly stayed in that house, in that little room with the small window overlooking the garden where the others played, all because you didn’t want to hurt your mother. I couldn’t have done that.”

“How did you—!?” his grey eyes widened.

“I think that’s why you’ve remained Dorm Head for so long,” she smiled at him. “It’s not like people are stupid. They can probably tell that you’re amazing, just a little too strict. So don’t get too down about yourself.”

Riddle blinked at her in amazement for several moments before the surprised look broke down into an incredulous laugh. “This new Directing Student really is something.”

Yuu nearly jumped as he reached out and brushed her mussed hair out of her face with an unexpectedly large and calloused hand. “Rosehearts-senpai?”

“You’re not angry at me for collaring your friends?” he asked her.

“I was only ever angry that you were hurting yourself,” Yuu responded honestly, letting him straighten her hair for her. “It was the first time I got angry, too. I was wondering why I was so uncomfortable.”

“Even your anger is for others, huh? For me,” Riddle’s eyes crinkled in a genuine smile. “Yuu. If I end up on the wrong path again, will you become angry for me again?”

What a weird question. She nodded. “Of course I will. Though you have a bunch of people who are here to stop that from happening.”

“I’ll be depending on you to be one of those people,” he said expectantly.

Riddle really was kind of arrogant. Perhaps it came from his upbringing or maybe it was just in his personality; either way, Yuu rolled her eyes and smiled an affirmative. “Yes, Dorm Head.”

“That Glasses...Trey already spoils him enough,” grumbled Grim, “he doesn’t need you chasing after him all the time either.”

“I apologised for that already,” Trey spoke up for the first time since she’d entered the room. He had been watching them with a peaceful look in his eyes. “I also told Riddle that what he was doing was wrong.”

“You just told him not to think about anything and to cry it out!” Ace protested, “like a mom!”

“Here’s where you say like a _dad_ or brother, Ace,” Trey rolled his eyes.

Yuu wondered briefly what they had been talking about while she was out. It looked like Trey had leapt off that tightrope he’d been balancing on; even with the suit still on he looked as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Trey caught her eye and turned to her with a smile across the hospital bed. “Allow me to thank you as well, Transfer. Riddle’s life would have been in danger if you hadn’t stepped in to save him. You did what I couldn’t do and broke him out of his own collar.”

“You’re making a big deal out of nothing,” Yuu smiled back at him, “and it was you who supported Dorm Head all of these years, or he would’ve snapped long ago.”

“Yuu is right.” Riddle nodded to his friend gratefully. “Trey, you and Che’nya were my only respite.”

“Riddle…” Trey smiled at his friend. “I can finally rest easy.”

“I’m glad you two are okay now.” Yuu mumbled in relief.

“Okay?” Riddle repeated.

“Never mind,” Trey told him. He turned back to her and lifted a green brow. “So I’ll be the one to step on the elephant in the room then. Directing Student. What was that stuff you did back in the Rose Maze? I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“…Right,” Yuu sighed. She glanced around—during their conversations, Crowley had disappeared as silently as he’d carried her in. “Um, what about Cater-senpai? Where is he?”

“He’s directing the clean-up of the garden,” Riddle said nonchalantly, as if he hadn’t been the one to uproot most of it. “Don’t worry about him, Yuu. We’ll tell him about it later.”

“Right…but shouldn’t we help him?” she hinted. They’d caused quite a bit of damage to the Rose Maze.

“Injured people should stay in the infirmary,” Deuce grumbled, sliding in on the seat to her left. “Just tell us, already, Yuu. I don’t know what you’re worried about, but we’re not mad at you.”

“It was pretty awesome, the way you waved that stick and went _bang!_ And that big thing behind the Dorm Head exploded,” Grim waved a paw excitedly.

“Don’t think you can keep pretending nothing happened at this point,” Ace leaned his weight on her from behind her, lacing his arms around her shoulders in a threatening manner. “Well? Spill.”

Yuu looked around at the five staring at her expectantly and sighed. “It’s a long story.”

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
>  **Edited |** December 31st, 2020 for grammar, better definitions, and minor details to comply with the details like Che’nya’s name and Unique Magic. 
> 
> —
> 
>  **Definitions |**
> 
> **Che’nya's name |** I thought the full-name spelling I chose was more accurate to the original (and easier to understand when read) but I can change it to fit the tag's spelling if enough people want me to? What little of the Magical Archives page I saw on him doesn't have his Romanized name so I did what I could...
> 
>  _magic power (魔力, maryoku)_ | the way magic is described in the Twisted Wonderland. There’s an implication that magic power behaves sort of like MP (mana points) in an RPG, where everyone has x amount that they can use until it’s drained. Keep in mind that this isn’t exactly the way magic behaves in Harry Potter.
> 
> —
> 
> Who was the genius who came up with the phrase "TwistOBer"? I would like to shake their hand. Happy TwistOBer, everyone, with our first OB of the semester! Hooraaay \\(°_o)/
> 
> By the way, I took a bunch of 'Are You a Sociopath?' quizzes from Ace's perspective and got 'yes' unanimously. Ace... (I'm too scared to try with Trey)
> 
> —
> 
> Thank you as always for your fantastic response to this story. Over one _hundred_ Kudos! You're the best readers ever!! I'll be waiting for your comments as usual...any comments! Let me know what you thought below.
> 
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> —


	6. Castles of Sand and Shell.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuu explains her magic to her friends in Heartslabyul and continues her struggle to survive within NRC's vast campus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
> What an amazing response last chapter. Thank you all! **Please note three points:**
> 
>   1. Yuu is _not_ a completely reliable narrator.
>   2. Yuu (and everyone else...?) missed Grim picking up and eating the black rock since she was unconscious. (This will come up in the story a lot later too.)
>   3. Please don't expect Yuu to give up keeping her magic a secret from the rest of the school just because her friends know now. She's stubborn... so the BIG magic reveal is going to have to wait!
> 

> 
> We're still on the tail-end of Episode One -- not even one seventh of the way through Twisted Wonderland's main Episodes. This story is still in its infancy, so progression is going to be veerrryyy slow. I appreciate your understanding!
> 
> —
> 
> Also, allow me to brag for a second about getting the Magical Archives for 3000 yen! And it came in two days!! _De toute beauté_. I've been reading it between studying for exams, and Toboso-sensei really put in so much thought behind everything she develops for each character. 
> 
> ~~Edits may or may not be forthcoming to the previous chapters since the semester is beginning to swamp me... (First of all, the mountain from Chapter 2 is apparently called "Mt. Dwarf"...)~~
> 
> ~~(Maybe during Christmas break? Sorry! I'm so busy!!)~~
> 
> **Edits are done as of December 31st!**
> 
> Scary Monsters is the first limited-time event occurring during my writing of this story. Wishing you all SSR luck during the pickups! 🍭🍬🍫
> 
> —

—

The five others in the infirmary forced her to lie back down and drink some water before she told them her story. Yuu, who was starting to feel the pain swell in her shoulder, didn’t protest too much. She’d taken a harder hit than she expected in the Rose Maze.

Yuu started with the letter that had changed her life and skimmed briefly over what magic meant in Wizarding Britain. How she’d been completely unexposed to magic before then and how her father had been a half-blood wizard who had kept the existence of magic from his wife and child until she’d been selected as an admittee to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. How Hogwarts was one of the most renowned magic schools in the league of magical training schools in her world.

“Remind you of something?” Ace mumbled over to Deuce.

“Sounds exactly like NRC,” Deuce mumbled back.

Yuu pulled her yew wand from her ruined sleeve and showed them the ten-plus inches of pale wood. She explained that her magic had manifested in her life in small accidents until she turned eleven and rode the Hogwarts Express to school. Yuu also mentioned briefly that she was entering her fifth year during which she would take her Ordinary Wizarding Levels to be admitted as a trained wizard (she nearly said witch), although instead of going to the station she’d woken up in a coffin here.

“Then you _can_ do your magic, just not our magic. How come the Mirror didn’t recognise you?” Ace asked shrewdly.

“Probably because I’m not from this world?” she shrugged. “That Mirror’s a magical artifact, right? It’s made with the magic of this world, so since I’m a foreign existence, it would be strange if it _did_ recognise me. I think that despite some similarities, our magic and your magic are completely separate entities. Plus, my magic tends to destroy technology without discrimination.”

“Seriously!?” Deuce gaped. “What would you do without electric lighting? Even magic stone powered electric lights are sort of both!”

“ _Lumos_ ,” Yuu murmured; her wand glowed brightly at the tip. “This plus conjuring fire pretty much solves the problem of light.”

“That would do it,” Trey nodded. He reached for his pocket. “By the way, my phone is working fine. Seems like our technology is safe. Maybe it has to do with being powered by magic stones?”

“Right, sorry. I forgot.” Yuu extinguished her wand. “To be honest, I haven’t touched a phone for so long I forgot that most people used one nowadays. But magic stone-powered electricity doesn’t seem to be affected by my magic either way.”

Trey put his phone away and prompted her, “Why did you keep your magic a secret when the mirror said you were magic-less?”

“Come to think of it,” Riddle said thoughtfully. “I was watching when you were shoved in front of the mirror by the Headmaster, but you were calm throughout the entire ordeal.”

“Um, there is a reason,” she started.

“That’s what I was waiting to hear,” Grim said from her uninjured shoulder. He had been listening patiently enough, but was starting to fidget.

“You’re pretty secretive,” Ace grumbled, leaning back. “As your friend, you should tell me everything about you! Height! Weight! Secrets!”

“And have you blackmail me for the rest of my life?” Yuu raised one brow.

“I wouldn’t do that,” he looked playfully affronted.

“Yes he would,” Deuce rolled his eyes. “Yuu, we’re not angry at you for hiding things from us. In fact, I’m personally kind of relieved.”

“Relieved?” Yuu repeated confusedly. She had been expecting anger and cold glances, maybe even a severance of their friendship.

“That you have self-preservation instincts.” Deuce smiled that unexpectedly gentle smile at her, warmth darkening his teal-green eyes. “NRC is a school full of…”

“Psychos?” Ace suggested.

“That’s just you.” Deuce rolled his eyes.

“Not just me!” Ace protested, “and I’m not exactly a psycho anyway.”

“Don’t you know?” Riddle questioned from the foot of the bed, where he was perched rather regally against the footboard. He ignored Ace and Deuce soundly. “Just how little were you told after you appeared in this school?”

“Basically…nothing. I woke up by falling out of a coffin, ran away from Grim who was shooting fireballs at me, got dragged back by the Headmaster and…couldn’t get back,” Yuu shrugged.

Riddle raised both eyebrows. “That’s it?”

“You must’ve been so confused,” commented Trey.

“So you weren’t even notified you were accepted?” Deuce frowned.

“Remember, I didn’t even know this entire planet existed, let alone that I got wrapped up in this mess,” Yuu sighed. “The Headmaster said that no mistakes had been made in a hundred years, but no matter how you think about it, I’m not supposed to be here.”

“And yet,” Trey frowned, “you didn’t make a fuss or demand to be sent back.”

“Terrible things happen to wizards who mess with time-space,” Yuu told him solemnly, “so it was best to figure out everything by myself and disappear quietly. But I’m not a good honest person, so forgive me if I put my secrets in first place.”

Ace released a low whistle and leaned back.

“You’re pretty resilient, huh?” Trey looked visibly impressed.

“I’m just used to going with the flow. I didn’t expect to be here for long,” Yuu shook her head, “so it didn’t really matter to me what happened. But there really is not much about the Mirror in the library. Let alone magical travel.”

The third year pushed his glasses up thoughtfully, looking almost ridiculously like Professor Potter. “Well…then let me give you some advice, Transfer. You should at least know that NRC is a good school, but it’s not a _good_ school.”

“What Trey means,” Riddle elaborated, “is that the character of the students attending this school can be rather…”

“Messed up?” Grim piped up.

“…Uncultured,” Riddle finished with a sigh.

“I’ve heard Ace and Deuce mention it before,” Yuu blinked.

“It’s part of the…ah…requirements for admittance,” Trey explained, smiling awkwardly. “The Mirror chooses based on the amount of magic power someone has, but also what they’re like.”

“There are other schools in Twisted Wonderland too,” Deuce said, “that choose on magic and, uh… _good_ character.”

So everyone here was what a Gryffindor would call a ‘sneaky, slimy Slytherin’? Yuu blinked several times in surprise. “That’s not why I didn’t tell anyone about my magic, but I’m happy I didn’t now.”

“It’s not?” Ace squinted at her. “You’re pretty quick on the uptake, so I thought you’d noticed we were all off somehow.”

Deuce shook his head. “I don’t think Yuu really cares about whether someone’s ‘off’ or not. Even if he did notice, he’d probably just say ‘oh’ and forget about it.”

“That’s true,” Ace agreed, to her surprise. “I mean it’s exactly how he reacted to me.”

“ _You really are a sociopath_ ,” Grim imitated her. “…And that was it.”

“Hey, even if I didn’t get chosen by the mirror, what’s to say I’m not off either?” Yuu shot back. “I might have been chosen just on account of my terrible character.”

Everyone burst into snickers. Even Riddle was laughing.

“What!?” she spluttered, swatting at a giggling Grim, “I wasn’t joking!”

“I can’t breathe,” Ace gasped.

Deuce tried, “What he means to say is… _pfft_!”

“Ah, transfer,” Trey lifted his glasses to wipe at his eyes. “You really are interesting.”

Riddle recovered first. “Yuu,” he told her warmly, “you are not a Night Raven College student. An NRC student would not have saved my life.”

Yuu stared at him.

“You should be careful,” Trey suggested, regaining control of his laughter. “That, ah, genuineness of yours is unseen in this school. If you’re not careful, you’ll get swallowed up or worse.”

“Swallowed…?”

“Can we get back to the reason you didn’t tell us anything?” Ace nudged her impatiently. “What, you’re not allowed to talk about magic or something?”

“Got it in one,” Yuu nodded. Ace really was intelligent. She explained quickly what the Statute of Secrecy meant to the Ministry of Magic and how for years, wizards and witches had secluded themselves from the muggles completely. How important it was that the law was not broken, and consequently, how there was a Trace in her wand, which she didn’t know the implications of in a world not her own.

“You broke the most important law of your world for me!?” Riddle spluttered, lunging forwards and taking a hold of her uninjured shoulder. Grim tipped onto the sheets with a yelp.

Yuu bit off the beginning of her next sentence in surprise. “Eh? Huh?”

“Damn,” Ace whistled, leaning back with a shake of his head, “you really are a stupidly nice guy.”

“It was sort of a calculated gamble,” Yuu protested, leaning back as Riddle got in her face aggressively. This guy really was all about the rules after all. “I mean, the Ministry hasn’t come after me so I’m pretty sure they can’t reach me here.”

“You’re taught to obey that rule since you learnt about your magic and you _broke_ it for me!?” Riddle ignored her, grey eyes wide.

“I just considered you more important than some law,” Yuu said helplessly, “my body just moved on its own, okay? I’d do it again for you even if I could rethink my choice.”

“That’s foolish!”

“No it’s not,” Yuu looked him in the eye earnestly. “Your life was worth it.”

Riddle went stock still. So did everyone else.

Grim was the first one to move. “Yuu,” he said grumpily, climbing in her lap, “I finally get what Crowley said about being a tamer now. You’re _my_ partner, got it? Mine!”

“Huh?” Yuu emitted dumbly.

“One hell of a passionate confession that was,” Ace muttered, looking somewhat pink.

“Damn, is this what they call an animal tamer?” Deuce seemed a little impressed.

“It’s a little different,” Trey said wryly, “when the person in question has no idea what effect they have on people.”

Riddle was slowly turning red. Yuu started getting nervous. Was he angry at her again?

Grim sucked in a breath and swatted her head. “Stop going around training everyone else!”

—

**CHAPTER SIX | Castles of Sand and Shell.**

—

In the end, Yuu made her friends promise not to tell anyone about her magic. She’d let loose spectacularly with the duel, but luckily, all other students had been evacuated and according to Trey, no one had noticed her ‘gift’.

Riddle was, if nothing else, responsible—he promised her immediately that her secret would not be revealed from him nor any of his dorm-mates. Trey nodded along, and Ace and Deuce grumbled a bit before they relented.

“You could just show everyone and they’d stop messing with you,” Grim suggested.

“No,” she shook her head firmly. “So I broke the law once, but that doesn’t mean I’m just going to walk around firing Stunners left and right because someone scribbled on my desk.”

“If you say so,” Grim grumbled doubtfully. “I’d blast ‘em though.”

“You should know by now how careful this kid is,” Ace rolled his eyes. “…Though it probably is the right decision. Some of the upperclassmen in this school are frickin’ scary even with Yuu’s ’splodey magic.”

“Yuu prefers to be a hidden tiger, crouching flamingo,” Deuce nodded proudly. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Crouching what?”

“What, you hard of hearing?”

“Huh? You hard of _thinking_?”

“You’re going to trust us to hold your secret?” Trey asked her as Ace and Deuce bickered.

“Yes,” she said solemnly.

“Are you sure?”

“…It was probably going to leak eventually,” she sighed. “That it’s you, senpai, who knows is much better than some random student here. Will you keep my secret?”

If not—Yuu would have to figure out another plan. She didn’t know the Fidelius Charm yet on account of its complexity, but maybe with enough experimentation…

“Hmm,” Trey let it go with a smile, to her relief. “Well…you did save Riddle. Suppose we should return the favour somehow.”

Eventually, the Heartslabyul students cleared out of the infirmary. They could probably tell she was in pain. Even if Yuu didn’t believe everyone here was psychotic, she had discovered that everyone here had the quality to be sorted into Slytherin. Their social abilities and observation—well, maybe barring Deuce—was something to be feared.

Yuu smiled rather shamefully at herself. She’d been trying to hide how much pain she was in, but none of them seemed fooled. She had to work on that.

After peeling a struggling Grim from her lap—“ _Funaaa!_ I’m not leaving my henchman!”—and telling her they’d be back in the morning, Ace ruffled her hair with a sigh and told her to hurry up and get better so he could copy her homework.

Yuu dozed for a while as the sun fell low in the sky.

She had forgotten she was alone.

Since she had arrived in this world, Yuu had not slept by herself—at the very least, she’d had Grim to clutch to her stomach when she’d woken at night. The past week, she’d also had Ace and Deuce on either side of her (the latter often ending upside down) which had allowed her to experience an unprecedented period of sound sleep. Now, none of them were present.

Yuu had always felt that humans were closest to death when they became aware of sleep. In that period between wakefulness and nothing, they had to accept and make peace with the possibility that they would never awake again—however subconsciously.

Perhaps that’s why she had developed an unhealthy attachment to be with someone during that most vulnerable time.

No one wanted to die alone.

“—Yuu-kun!”

She gasped, snapping back into awareness. Yuu came face to face with Crowley’s mask and those gold, gold eyes and she reached forward and hung on to him. Crowley might not have been human, might not be ‘nice’, might have been the least trustworthy person she knew. But he was warm and he was right here and she liked him a lot more than she should have.

Contrary to her expectations, Crowley didn’t burst into theatrics about how he was so _nice_ to comfort a student. Instead, he sat down at her bedside and gathered her bodily over to him without a word.

_Ah,_ Yuu thought hazily, nose in his shirt.

_Is this what a parent’s hold feels like?_

“Have you calmed down a little?” Crowley said quietly a moment later.

“Yeah,” Yuu mumbled back sleepily. “Thanks.”

“Yuu-kun,” Crowley said placidly, as if discussing the weather, “you are a girl, aren’t you?”

She _almost_ nodded, lulled by the surrounding warmth and her own relieved drowsiness. Yuu repeated the words in her head instead and fought to maintain a steady breathing pattern.

“…Headmaster,” she said after a moment, wide awake, “you’re kind of a jerk.”

The feathers on Crowley’s mantle shook with his silent laughter. “My dear, did it take you this long to figure that out?”

“Why did you have to pick _that exact moment_ to say it?” Yuu sighed and pulled herself back onto the infirmary bed, casting a brief glance around. The windows overlooking the second floor were royal blue with dusk and the first glimmer of stars; within the room, soft yellow light glowed from the candelabras at her bedside.

Crowley crossed his leg over the other, looking very much a villain from a 1950s musical, shadows painting him most beautifully in the evening candlelight. “Don’t you think that choosing the perfect moment is important?”

“All right.” Yuu shrugged and leaned back against the headboard and window behind her, the cold glass of late September night against her head. She looked up at him through her lashes, feeling the throb of pain bite her shoulder as she settled down. “You know the answer, sir.”

“I want to hear it from you personally,” Crowley told her with his usual untrustworthy smile curving his darkly painted mouth.

“And what will you do then? Fling me out?” Yuu picked idly at her nails. “Tell me that you can’t help me find a way home after all? Convict me of the crime of falsifying my identity?”

After a beat of silence, she glanced up; Crowley was peering at her with that complete drainage of emotion from his face. When he perched on her bed with the unnatural stillness he sometimes displayed, Yuu could not escape the presentiment that she was looking at something far greater than a human.

Yuu stared it back in the eye.

Crowley tilted his head back and laughed. “Oh, Yuu-kun. You are indeed not from this world!” he exclaimed. “There is so much you don’t _know_. How wonderful and terrible it is to have you before me, my dear.”

“Why?” she asked flatly.

“ _Why_? Such an obvious question, yet I suppose that to you, it is truly a mystery.” Crowley’s smile spread wide and he spread his hands as if holding all of Twisted Wonderland behind him. “The Alice who fell down the rabbit hole; the heroine who finds herself in a different world. How truly marvellous—how beautifully the stage has been set. Don’t you think so as well, Yuu-kun?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Yuu squinted, “but you don’t seem to be very angry.”

“I’m impressed you managed to hide your gender from me for close to a month.” Crowley said in high spirits. “I’ll admit I didn’t even think of doubting it, but your cool disinterest cemented your disguise perfectly.”

“Well, that would be because I wasn’t trying to hide anything until a week ago when the Heartslabyul dorm students explained to me that this was a boy’s school,” Yuu said pointedly, “which _you_ didn’t tell me.”

“But because of your presence, things went quite well, didn’t they?” Crowley asked cheerfully. “Overblotting is quite rare in this world, so I’ll admit I was worried about our future, yet thanks to you we managed to make it through intact.”

“Things went well for _you_ , maybe,” she muttered. Yuu sighed. “Are you not going to ask me about my magic?”

“I heard it all earlier,” he dismissed her, “It’s common to have otherworldly magic if you come from another world.”

“Common?!” Yuu spluttered. “Heard earlier…you were listening in?”

“But it seems like no one else has discovered your gender except for Professor Crewel. Very good.”

“Wait, what!?” there was too much information rushing in at once. Yuu winced as her movement strained at her bruise and collapsed back with a hiss. “…So you’re _not_ going to kick me out?”

“Now, why on _earth_ did you think would I do that?” Crowley blinked his luminous eyes at her in complete confusion. “I wasn’t lying when I said you had the qualities of a tamer I haven’t seen before.”

“You’re saying I’m useful to you,” she raised a brow. “You want me around?”

“Think about it for a moment,” Crowley looked at her as if she were dumb. “You must be aware, but in these four weeks, you have forged strong bonds with several Heartslabyul students. Bonds strong enough to stop an Overblot in its tracks—though you may not understand how difficult that is. These NRC students do not cooperate easily…but they worked together with unprecedented willingness today. And Mister Grim’s attachment to you is far beyond that of a mere partner, is it not? On top of that, your mysterious magic is powerful enough to physically defend against a phenomenon that we still have not researched.”

“When you say it like that, it sounds a lot more impressive than it actually is,” Yuu mentioned weakly.

“It’s the truth. Yuu-kun, you have made yourself far too useful for me to let you go this easily,” he told her matter-of-factly. “The role of heroine for this stage cannot be played by anyone besides you anymore. And kicking you out is out of the question.”

“Someone from another world is more dangerous than beneficial,” Yuu warned him. “It’s not a good idea to…”

“You still don’t understand,” Crowley sighed theatrically. “My dear girl. It’s got nothing to do with you being from another world. Nothing to do with your magic. It’s _you_ that has changed this world, and you would do well to remember that.”

There was a heavy weight behind his words that pressed back another protest she might have made. Yuu had been ready to deny it. She was not special. Not her, who had been ignored, shunned, excluded since the day she was born. But Crowley’s glowing yellow eyes spoke of an uncountable knowledge that shut her up quickly. He was not about to change his mind.

Had she been in a hurry to return home, Yuu would have argued harder. Be that as it was, she _should_ argue harder—Yuu knew better than everyone else that she shouldn’t be here, that she was destroying order and bringing about calamity just by continuing to exist.

“Then, are you still going to help me find a way back to my world?” Yuu narrowed her eyes at him. “That was the condition that we agreed on back in the beginning.”

“Of course, of course! I _am_ a nice person.” Crowley nodded emphatically. _Too_ emphatically.

“You’ll have to forgive me if I say that it doesn’t look like your kindness has resulted in anything important,” Yuu deadpanned.

“More importantly!”

“Headmaster, there is nothing more important than the issue of returning,” Yuu sighed.

The weariness in her voice paused his flourishing movements. Crowley tilted his head at her, birdlike. “Hmm? Yet I cannot feel a strong desire coming from you to actually leave. You mention it often, but you don’t look enthused. And yet you say it is important?” 

“Doesn’t matter if I desire or don’t desire anything.” Yuu explained. “But I _have to_ go back. Although not as scary as messing with time, travelling across the boundaries of worlds—if these boundaries exist—breaks a ton of laws that govern the universe. You should know this far better than me, Headmaster, that introducing an anomaly as big as me into this world is dangerous. The lives…the order of your Twisted Wonderland’s residents is at stake.”

In her third year, Yuu had been introduced by McGonagall to the Time-Turner, which were technically all smashed during the last Wizarding War but had been recommended to her to experiment creating if she wanted to take extra classes. She immediately declined its use. Messing with time was awful.

Messing with worlds?

Crowley pulled her out of her sinking thoughts with a sigh. “You are truly an intelligent young woman, Yuu-kun. And ever the more perfect for the seat of the Directing Student. It is a stroke of luck that of all the people to have landed here in Night Raven College, you were the one to arrive.”

“Were you even listening to me?” Yuu frowned at him. “It’s fine for _you_ that I’m here, but it might be bad in the future. I should leave. Right now.”

Crowley smiled at her without saying a word.

She deflated with a sigh. “…Okay, so it’s probably way too late to be talking about stuff like messing with the order of things since I’m already wrapped up in this mess. Headmaster, it doesn’t look like you’re going to let me go anytime soon. But I’m not giving up on finding a way back by myself.”

She didn’t know anything about Crowley, not really—not his abilities, his true personality, his own goals. She had no clue if he was truly looking for a way home for her. Just because she thought he was interesting didn’t mean _anything_.

“You’ll understand in due time,” Crowley’s golden eyes narrowed in delight. “Although I am grateful that you’ve proven to be far more interesting than I first anticipated. Truly a child who carries the future in her eyes, indeed. Of course, I would be delighted if you allowed those animal taming abilities of yours to be exercised for the good of this school.”

“You keep talking about stuff like that,” Yuu’s head was beginning to hurt. Crowley never talked understandably, with all of his metaphors and gesturing. Just what did he mean by ‘animal tamer’, anyway? She hadn’t tamed anything.

Still, what was more important right now was that he’d discovered her gender and was still willing to let her stay. “In any case. Am I correct in assuming that I’m still going to be a student here?”

“…A student?” Crowley blinked slowly. “My dear, you have no need to falsify your gender and continue your schooling. To make up for my ungentlemanly conduct during your arrival, the school can take responsibility for your continued stay.”

“What?” Yuu squinted. “But isn’t it more logical for me to continue the way I am as a student? That way I can access the library easily.”

“What?” He parroted. “You want to continue as a _student_? In this den of beasts? As a young lady!? There is no way a nice person like me would force you to stay here!”

“I have no idea why you’re freaking out,” Yuu squinted bemusedly as he clutched at his top hat, “but you’re not forcing me to do anything. In the first place, you offered me food, lodging, and education when you could have just flung me out into the forest and be done with it.”

Crowley spluttered. “…What on earth have you been through, child!? The way your mind works is…in the first place, why are you wearing a chest protector? You say you did not purposefully pretend to be male, but when I carried you here…”

“Oh.” Yuu felt the strap of the thick padded vest that cushioned her chest down to her diaphragm. “You felt this, right? This is self-protection. I didn’t intend to be dressing as a boy, but back in Hog…where I used to go to school, I dealt with dangerous magical creatures often.”

“Dangerous magical creatures,” Crowley repeated slowly.

“Right. In addition to being light armour for when I get swatted out of the sky, it was enchanted to be fireproof,” she explained, “since dragons are pretty vicious in the area where my summer internship was held. It’s saved my life a bunch of times and I guess I just…kept wearing it afterwards out of habit.”

“…Dragons,” he muttered. “…No wonder you seemed to used to handling magical familiars like Mister Grim even when you came from a separate world without our magic. And Monsters such as he have a sharp intuition…yet he’s warmed to you so fast…hmm.”

“It’s normal,” Yuu shrugged. “Grim gets lonely easily, like me, so we make a suitable pair.”

“In any case,” Crowley let the remark slide past uncommented, “it is not proper to force a young woman to attend an all-boy’s school, even under disguise. It is natural for us to provide better accommodations for you, so don’t hold back on your part.”

“Why?” Yuu squinted.

“…Why?”

“Just because I’m a girl?” she guessed. “You’ve changed your way of addressing me and suddenly want to improve my lodgings because I’m a girl?”

Crowley crossed his arms. “Naturally,” he nodded. “Even if this is Night Raven College, no one is going to mistreat a lady.”

“Please,” Yuu snorted, unimpressed. “I’d rather you just let me keep going as I am normally. It’s not like I’m planning on being here for long, and removing my student license will affect my chances of getting in the library as well as Grim’s own chances of going to school here.”

“…So you’re saying that you want to continue dressing as a boy to attend this school for the sole purpose of research,” Crowley got out slowly. “…Yuu-kun. I have never met anyone like you.”

“Your weird world here is too nice to women,” Yuu shot back. “And it’s not like it matters whether I’m a girl or a boy. Although I would really like a uniform or a change of clothes or a place where I could buy underwear and stuff.”

Crowley made a strangled noise.

Yuu didn’t notice. “I mean, you find me useful too, so it’d be inconvenient to suddenly remove me from the school, right? But magically cleaning my clothes is wearing them out quick and this whole Overblot thing sort of shredded my sleeve…”

“ _Ooooooh!_ ” The rest of her sentence was cut off when Crowley buried his face in his gloves and started bawling loudly. Yuu jumped, mouth falling open in shock as he blubbered, “How could I force a young girl to…! Without even a change of clothes…and of all places, in that wreck of a shack…”

“You were so eager about it when you thought I was a boy,” she muttered.

“This is too much of a tragedy!” Crowley wailed.

“No it’s not. I just need a few sets of clothing.”

“Of _course_ I’ll provide them,” he sniffed loudly, “on my honour as a Headmaster. As if I could allow a courageous girl sacrificing the knowledge of her own gender to stay in a school full of…! Just thinking about it brings me to tears…”

Yuu refrained from mentioning he didn’t have any honour and leaned back with a sigh. “Well, then I don’t have any special requirements or complaints. Since you don’t seem to be against me continuing schooling here, can I ask you to keep my gender and my magic a secret?”

“As if I would reveal a lady’s secrets!” he looked almost offended. “I was planning to from the beginning. You are quite resilient to not feel any discomfort being the only girl living in a school like this. Shall I move you from the Ramshackle Dorm into the school? I’m sure I could find a…”

Yuu held up a hand. “Please don’t treat me differently now that you know I’m female,” she said firmly.

“…Ah, and yet you live in the Twisted Wonderland.”

“I don’t know what it’s like here. I don’t care what it should be like,” Yuu told him flatly. “I’m not saying it’s bad to be gentlemanly, but I also have a right to decline that treatment. Please.”

“So you’re saying you _want_ to stay in Ramshackle Dorm?” his mouth twisted.

“Yes sir.” She said firmly. “In fact, I would love it if you just completely forgot about my being female and pretend this conversation never occurred.”

Crowley put one gloved hand under his chin and leaned forward, a manic light shining in his golden eyes. “My dear girl, are you not making this too easy for me? You seem to be allowing the situation to move along despite not wanting things to go the way they are going.”

“Because I’m used to things not going my way.”

“Here is where you refuse to comply to the situation. Demand a way home. Reject an answer that doesn’t satisfy you! As _twisted_ as this world is, we are living in a Wonderland. A fairy tale. Haven’t you read the stories? Good always wins in the end, does it not?”

Yuu’s head pounded. “What are you even talking about? You think me seeking my selfish wishes is ‘good’? In the first place, I’m just a kid—I have no idea how to go home. I don’t know what fairy tale you’re talking about, but this is reality for me. I’m not interested in some illogical happy ending that gets served up on a silver platter. In the first place, those things don’t exist.”

“You don’t believe in fairy tales? How sad,” Crowley shook his head grievously, lifting both hands to his shoulders in a shrug. The claw-tipped gloves gleamed in the dim lighting. “Didn’t you think you were dreaming first when you arrived here? There is no logic to dreams.”

“How did you—? Never mind. I don’t want to know. Why are you talking in circles so much?”

“Yuu-kun, you could have your happy ending,” Crowley lowered his voice conspiratorially, smile showing his white teeth. “You could live…happily ever after if you sought it, if you _demanded_ it from me.”

“I don’t care for unrealistic things like that,” Yuu was unimpressed. “And I don’t believe you in the slightest. Why are you talking about endings all of a sudden? It’s one thing if you’re going to send me back home—though I very much doubt I could convince you right now. _That_ ’s the best ending for me.”

She had the strange feeling that their conversation was not lining up. As if Crowley was speaking layers deeper than she was understanding. If she were less confused, less injured, less _tired_ …but right now Yuu was kind of irritated and sleepy and really wanted a hug from Grim.

“Look, I don’t understand anything you’re saying, Headmaster,” Yuu rubbed at her eyes. “I might have managed to travel across worlds, but that doesn’t mean reason has abandoned me. Whether I’m living in reality or not, there is _nothing_ fairy-tale about this place.”

“So you think.”

“And even if there was, I don’t _care_. What’s important is what’s going to happen to me right now. Headmaster, are you going to kick me out or not?”

“No,” he answered her readily.

“Send me back home immediately?”

“No.”

“Are you going to cause me harm?”

“Are you saying I would hurt a lady?” Crowley sounded deeply offended. She was sure it was all false.

Yuu throbbed all over. Her headache grew stronger the more they talked—there was no way she could best this gentlemanly villain in a game of words. She enunciated her words clearly. “Then please let me continue like I had before, sir. Don’t do…anything unnecessary. Whatever you’re thinking. I don’t need a happy ending if it’s only self-satisfaction.”

Crowley considered her for a long time before he opened his mouth. “…You won’t regret not backing out when you had the chance?”

_No regrets?_ A long-forgotten voice echoed in her memory.

“Honestly, I haven’t regretted anything yet,” Yuu told him sleepily, rubbing at her sore side as the voice echoed in her head, “and I sincerely doubt that I will in the future.”

There was a long silence.

“…is what she says, Professor Crewel. Are you satisfied?” Crowley called out.

Yuu blinked as the door to the infirmary swung open noiselessly, revealing Crewel’s great striped fur coat and his glare. “Of course not.”

“Professor Crewel,” Yuu tried to sit up straight, surprised.

“ _Bad girl!_ Stay. Lie back down this instant,” Crewel snapped. Yuu lay back against the headboard as he pressed a scarlet glove to his strong brow, looking even more done with her than he usually did in class. “I heard you injured yourself throwing yourself foolishly against the puppy from Heartslabyul.”

“Yessir,” Yuu responded at once, “Sorry for the trouble, sir.”

“Why is your response with him so different from your response to me!?” Crowley wailed.

“Silence,” Crewel cut him off. He fished a bottle from his sleeve, approaching her bedside. “It’s the same bruise medicine I concocted for you last time, girl. Finish it now.”

Yuu obediently took the diamond-shaped bottle of glass, uncorked it, and swallowed the unpleasantly brownish liquid in one gulp.

“Ohhh,” Crowley emitted, impressed, “it’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone drink one of those without complaining.”

“There’s no point in complaining,” Yuu frowned, “since I’d have to drink it in the end anyway.”

“ _Good girl._ I’d like the other whining mutts take an example from you,” Crewel sighed. He had a deep frown etched in his face as he looked down at her, glitter shining artfully on his dark-coloured eyelids. “…I didn’t expect you to last this long.”

“Sorry?”

“Back when you were injured from the foolish trip Crowley sent you on to the Mines,” Crewel explained civilly, “when I checked your side. It was obvious your bone structure was not one of a male’s.”

“You figured it out _that_ early!?” Crowley cried out. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Fool! As if I could give away a lady’s secrets.” Crewel growled at him. “She’s your student. Shouldn’t you know all about the puppies in your pack? If I were in charge, I would be able to identify each one of them down to the last spot.”

“It’s as you say,” Crowley said obediently, withering under his glare.

Yuu tried not to laugh.

“At first I thought it was her choice to be enrolling in this school as a boy, so I remained quiet…reluctantly.” Crewel made the same glare that he used to drill into her head during alchemy.

“You drilled me quite a bit, professor,” Yuu commented.

“I was trying to get you to _leave_ ,” he gritted out. “NRC is no place for foolish little girls to wander in at will. All the other times it happened they were discovered by the Mirror immediately and given due punishment.”

Yuu noted that there _were_ other girls who had snuck into this school. She wondered what was so good about the Night Raven College. Surely there were other schools that taught girls magic in this world that valued women so highly.

“But,” Crewel sighed, “from what I’ve heard just now, you aren’t here of your own will. Nor were you dressing as a male of your own accord. And most importantly, your performance in class is eye-opening.”

“Look, I only have this one set of clothing,” Yuu said.

“ _That_ ,” Crewel told her with a sniff, “is the most unforgiveable thing about this whole situation, little puppy.”

“Um.” Yuu stiffened as his voice dropped an octave. “Sorry?”

“Your _attire_ ,” Crewel growled low enough to send goosebumps shooting up her arms. “Forgive me for using such words in front of a lady, but I am appalled that that bastard crow didn’t provide you with enough funds to adorn yourself sufficiently, male or female. No wonder you were mistaken for a boy with that shabby clothing.”

“Hey!” Crowley protested.

“And no wearing chest coverings!” Crewel steamrolled on. “Do you know how bad those are for you? Not to mention unpalatable. There are plenty of ways to protect your chest without such a tacky vest!”

“Tacky!?” He’d seen it?

“If you are to remain on this campus, I’ll not have you looking like a ragged abandoned puppy on a street corner,” Crewel said imperiously. “Since we _clearly_ can’t rely on the Headmaster to provide you with decent dress and living conditions, I will personally prepare the clothing. From his funds, of course.”

“Professor!?” Yuu gaped.

“Ah…we’ve set off Professor Crewel’s pickiness about fashion,” Crowley buried his head in his hands despondently. “My budget…I was saving up for a vacation, you know!”

“But Professor, I would like to remain in Ramshackle, please,” Yuu said hastily, because Crewel had pulled his crop out and was tapping it against his dark pants, glaring down at Crowley rather threateningly. “It’s grown on me. Though it would be nice if the hot water was fixed.”

“A simple request,” Crowley perked up. “Don’t worry, Yuu-kun, I’ll see what I can do about the dorm. No matter what you say, it is rather…unpleasant to force a young lady to abide in lodgings such as those.”

“If he doesn’t do it, I’ll whip that mask into a thousand pieces,” Crewel promised grimly.

“Professor, it’s all right—”

“And you! Little puppy. You have no awareness of yourself. Do you understand how dangerous it is to live in a school of several hundred untrained adolescent dogs?” Crewel turned on her. “And you want to continue your education here? Unlike Royal Sword Academy, this school will not treat you with the respect you deserve because you are female.”

“Royal…?” repeated Yuu dumbly, both hands up in supplication.

“Those eyes are telling me you don’t understand.” Crewel tipped her chin up with the crop like he had done so many times in class. “The second these half-bred mutts sniff out your scent, they’ll be on you like wolves.”

Yuu blinked at him, letting his incomprehensible words pass through her ears. More importantly, she’d thought… “Then Professor, you weren’t glaring at me because you disliked me?”

“I was making sure your intentions were not base and that you weren’t being attacked,” Crewel snapped.

“Oh…” Ace had been right again. Yuu firmed her stare. “Thank you, Professor. It’ll be okay if no one finds out, though.”

“If no one finds out?” he repeated, an incredulous smile tugging up at his thin mouth. “Little puppy, while your disguise might have worked due to your lack of care for your fur—which is inexcusable, by the way—even the Pomfiore students don’t have such a delicate cheekbone. Up close, I don’t see how anyone could mistake you for a boy.”

“Really?” Yuu felt her face absently. “Don’t I look just like a random student? I don’t think I stand out much.”

“…”

For the first time since she’d met him, Yuu saw Crewel shocked into silence, his ice-grey eyes widening. She frowned back in confusion. In all of her years as a child, she’d been ignored, dismissed as uninteresting, so why did he look so…?

Crowley sighed from the foot of her infirmary bed. “Well, she’s got that part of the heroine thing down, at least.”

“Do you usually wear your fur over your face like this?” Crewel asked her intently, changing tack. “Tied at the back?”

“Well…I had it long until last year, but I chopped it off because it was getting in the way,” she shrugged. “The bangs covering my face are a common hairstyle around the place I got it cut, and it hid my eyes, which are a rare colour for that area.”

“I see,” Crewel said thoughtfully, removing his crop. “It seems that the beauticians in your world leave something to be desired.”

“Sorry?”

“It worked out for the best, didn’t it?” Crowley beamed. “She hasn’t gotten discovered by a single person apart from us!”

And Leona-senpai. Yuu wisely kept silent. She still had to pay him back for lending her his jacket.

“…Little puppy.” Casting a disdainful glance at the Headmaster, Crewel slid his crop back into his studded belt and frowned at her. “Ignore the crow for a moment and tell me. If you refuse to be here, I’ll have you out no matter how much faith he has in your abilities.”

“Professor,” Yuu said, touched, “you don’t have to do that for me.”

“ _I_ offered to take you out too!” Crowley protested. No one listened.

“Nonsense. It is deplorable that a lady has been treated like this against her will up until now,” Crewel sniffed. “And one so oblivious to herself. You do not belong here.”

“That’s okay,” Yuu shrugged. “I don’t particularly mind being here. To be honest, I kind of like it. It’s fun.”

“ _Fun_?” Crewel repeated incredulously. “In this stuffy old castle full of mutts?”

“I made friends like I’ve never done before,” Yuu explained, “and I even learned what it was like to be angry for the first time. So I’m okay with continuing my status as a student for now. Though I’m still looking for a way home.”

“And you want to continue dressing like a boy to continue this incomprehensible _fun_.” Crewel said slowly.

“To find a way back to my world.” Yuu grinned sheepishly as she corrected him. “Um, also, I like your classes. Sir. Studying has kind of been my only hobby for as long as I’ve lived.”

“…I’ll give you that surviving and thriving in this kennel is no simple feat,” sighed Crewel, massaging his brow again. “But girl, you are a breed I have never laid eyes on before. You won’t regret this?”

“No sir.” Yuu paused. “Oh! Although if possible, I’d like a favour in return.”

“Name it,” the alchemy professor responded right away.

Being a girl really did have some benefits, Yuu noted, first with Leona and now with Crewel and Crowley. “Well, you see, I was trying to find a way to earn some money…”

—

For some reason, some incomprehensible reason, some illogical, ridiculous reason, Riddle had taken a liking to Yuu.

She’d been prepared for some kind of rule-breaking punishment. With all that she’d shouted at him, during the duel with his Overblot form and together with Ace before, Yuu had expected to have earned his hatred—or at least irritation.

Which was a little disappointing. Yuu valued Riddle’s seriousness and abidance to the rules, because it showed an understanding of society and a desire to improve the quality of life for the greater population. For a less noble reason, Yuu liked talking with smart people. Riddle was nothing if not intelligent. Even with seventeen years of hard work under his mother’s thumb, to succeed at everything asked of him was a sign of nothing short of genius.

But Yuu had been less than civil. So she had prepared herself for almost any response.

Except opening the door the next morning, newly equipped in a smart black uniform (personally fitted by Crewel), only to be faced with Riddle staring wide-eyed back at her. One black glove was raised as if to knock at the infirmary door.

Yuu said dumbly, “Good morning?”

Riddle regained himself with a cough. “…Good morning,” he responded, lowing his fist. Red was creeping up his neck. “I trust you’re doing better than yesterday.”

“I feel pretty good.” That disgusting medicine worked wonders. Yuu looked askance at him. “Did you forget something in the infirmary?”

“I came to apologise,” Riddle told her with a furrowed brow. “It is, after all, my fault you suffered such injuries.”

“Oh, that? I’m pretty much all better now. There’s no problem.” Yuu was quick to wave it off, even if her shoulder still ached a little.

“No, at least let me apologise,” Riddle smiled at her with a painful twist of the mouth, “I won’t be able to get over it if I don’t. Even I feel some guilt having caused you to fall into that state.”

“If that makes you feel better,” Yuu responded slowly. “I forgive you.”

“…By the way, did you finally got fitted for a uniform? It’s about time,” Riddle changed topics with another cough. “I was about to report you for not obeying the school rules.”

“I finally managed to get the Headmaster to give one to me,” Yuu grinned, “through Professor Crewel. Now I have two sets of clothes, including Cater-senpai’s suit he gave me.”

“…” Riddle gaped at her. “Two sets? You only had that _one_ ruined set of clothes before this?”

“Well…” Yuu scratched her head sheepishly. “Landing in another world without my wallet wasn’t part of the plan.”

“Why didn’t you say so!? And that Headmaster—he didn’t even think to provide you with proper clothing? I sure would like to have some words with him.” Riddle started to turn a dull red at the neck.

“Professor Crewel already did,” Yuu recalled the fearful Crowley with an amused smile, “and really, it isn’t a big deal. Clothing wasn’t that far up on my requirements list anyway.”

Riddle shook his head, amazed. “Yuu…I’m beginning to worry about you.”

Yuu tilted her head. “Why?”

“That lack of self-awareness is going to get you into trouble one day,” Riddle said with an exasperated smile. “…All right, come on. I’ve fetched your book bag from Heartslabyul, since you left it in the maze yesterday. Let’s go.”

“Oh, thank you…”

Riddle swung the bag out of her hands when she reached for it. “As if I’ll allow an injured party to carry it. I’ll walk you.”

“Huh!? No, I couldn’t trouble you _that_ much,” Yuu shook her hands in front of him. “Plus, Grim is…”

“Ace and Deuce will be waiting in the classroom with him,” Riddle said impatiently. “We’re just in time for breakfast tea, so follow me to the cafeteria.”

“I can carry—”

“Don’t think I didn’t see you wince when you stretched your arm just now.”

Yuu gave up. “Senpai, you’re too nice.”

Riddle looked at her like she was insane. “I’m not _nice_.”

“Yes you are, you’re just not used to hearing—”

“Oh, Yuu,” he smiled at her pityingly, “that’s not it. You call me a good person, a nice person…but how mistaken you are. There’s not a single good person within this school.”

“Then why are you carrying my bag for me?” Yuu shot back as they left the infirmary.

“Isn’t it simple?” Riddle’s smile darkened a little into a smirk; he leaned into her face so that they were eye-to-eye. “It’s because I’ve taken an interest in you.”

—

“…is what he said,” Yuu collapsed exhaustedly on Ace’s other side in the first-year classroom. “It’s not even first hour yet and I’m ready to go back to Ramshackle and put my head under a pillow. What is going on with that Dorm Head?”

“Huh? You say that after you tamed him?” Grim wrinkled his nose at her, burrowing into the space between her neck and shoulder. He sniffed. “Man you smell like that disinfectant stuff. Gross.”

“Tamed him!?” Yuu spluttered. “Rosehearts-senpai isn’t an animal. I mean technically, biologically we all are, but you don’t _tame_ humans.”

“I’m gonna have to agree with Grim on this one,” Ace rolled his Pen on the table idly as she dug in her book bag for her homework. “This was all your fault.”

“ _Et tu, brute_?”

“Who’s Brute?” Deuce squinted from Ace’s other side. “Anyway, Yuu, you really impressed Rosehearts-senpai. Which is obvious since you kind of saved his life. He’s taken a real shine to you!”

“ _Huuuuh_?” she dragged out. “I insulted him and attacked him though.”

“I think it’s useless,” Grim sighed, “this kid’s completely oblivious.”

“Anyway, you got invited to the party after school today, right?” Ace nudged her. “That Riddle’s baking a tart to make up for the one he destroyed last time, all by himself. You gotta come.”

“Oi, watch the way you address your upperclassmen!” Deuce shoved him.

“I bet it was you who made him bake it,” she gave him dead-fish eyes.

“Got it in one,” Deuce grinned over at her. “Can you believe this guy? After Rosehearts-senpai broke down crying he was all _I’ll never!! EVER! Forgive you!_ Like a five-year-old kid.”

“When he was crying? Read the atmosphere, man,” Yuu teased Ace.

“As if a simple apology can make up for all the work he put me through,” Ace sniffed. “I’m gonna milk this for all I’ve got.”

“All right, Mister High-functioning Sociopath. What time is the party?”

“I think it’s at half-past four, since everyone has club activities,” Deuce tried to remember. “Meet you at Heartslabyul then?”

“Wait, someone please pick me up in front of the Mirror, I can’t go through that thing alone,” Yuu said very quickly as Trein entered the room carrying Lucius on one arm.

Ace snickered. “Scaredy-cat,” he sing-songed under his breath.

“You keep saying that and I won’t let you copy my homework,” she sing-songed back.

Ace blinked his slanted brown eyes at her innocently. “What’d I say?”

Yuu could not stop her answering grin. For the entire day, stuck to Ace and Deuce like a limpet, glad that she hadn’t taken Crowley up on his offer to leave. There were benefits to being treated well as a girl—but she wouldn’t trade the world for this.

—

“You fool,” Yuu said to herself calmly, staring up at the barren mirror surrounded by white bone. Two torches set eerie shadows ablaze against the wrought iron crest of Savanaclaw. “You stupid idiot.”

Her book bag slung across her back and the Shrunken marron tart folded carefully in a pocket, Yuu cursed herself for forgetting to find someone to grab onto. But then, she couldn’t have taken anyone with her—Grim didn’t know she was a girl (probably) so bringing him would reveal her secret. In any case, he’d wanted to watch Ace’s first practice match in the basketball team. Deuce had joined the track and field team and had apparently impressed the instructor a great deal.

So she was on her own.

But Yuu _really_ didn’t like mirror travel. Apparating was one thing—one had to be aware of their destination and could control their travel themselves. (Never mind that she wasn’t supposed to know how to Apparate yet.) Methods like Floo, Portkey and now Mirror were completely out of her control.

Still, it was illogical to be standing around wasting time. She had a little over an hour and a half before the Heartslabyul gathering, and having never been to Savanaclaw before, Yuu was confident she’d get lost. Her spatial orientation had never been good.

Yuu sucked in a breath, refused to close her eyes, and stepped forward into the shining mirror.

Savanaclaw was nothing like she expected. After Yuu managed to stay upright passing through, she wobbled a little bit, watching its light go out slowly, before spinning around and releasing a breath of wonder.

Savanaclaw’s dorm had the structure of a grand castle from the Moorish empire. Clay-coloured domes forming slabs of wall heaped up and up and up until the pale blue sky overwhelmed its last floors. In the bright daytime, a crescent moon hung visibly in the dry air, a silent sentry to her arrival. Yuu was standing in the cradle of bones forming a sharp ribcage split open at its centre; if she looked around, similar curves of white lay in an artful mess along the dirt road leading away from the mirror.

“That rock looks like Pride Rock,” Yuu mumbled, squinting up at the jagged outcropping and the only visible tree beside it, from where a sandy yellow banner hung, displaying Savanaclaw’s lion crest for all to see. “ _Nants ingonyama_ indeed.”

The afternoon air was dry and consequently a little chilly. Yuu, however, was protected with the blazer she had received as part of her new uniform and didn’t so much as shiver. She was too busy casting her awed gaze over the wide-open plains that stretched behind Savanaclaw’s castle as far as the eye could see. It was beautiful.

Forgetting her purpose, Yuu walked around the front side of Savanaclaw’s castle, marvelling at the ever-burning tiki torches standing on either side of the huge square entranceway. In lieu of a door or gate, two rich falling curtains drew multicoloured triangles down in front of her in greens, whites and oranges. Yuu felt the thick fabric in delight.

“Wow,” she said dumbly, “I love this place.”

The curtain shifted; a tall student brushed it aside and nearly bumped into her. “—Oi, watch where you’re goin’, brat.”

“Whoops.” Yuu stepped aside. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

The tall student brushed past her with a sharp exhale of disdain, his small triangular ears twitching at his head. Following him was a shorter student with tall black ears, who sniffed the air a few times.

“Hey, you,” he growled at her. “You don’t smell like a Savana firstie. Haven’t seen you ‘round these parts, kid. Don’t tell me you’re stupid enough to come in our territory without permission?”

“Huh? What’re you talking about? He smells like…” the tall student sniffed and made a strange face. “Like a ton of stuff. But there’s the Savana on him, no doubt.”

“What’s wrong with your nose? He doesn’t—” the tall black ears pricked upright. “—Oi. This scent.”

“—There’s no mistake.” Growled the tall student, and both of them turned on her.

Yuu blinked as she felt the aggression in the air rise a few notches. “Am I not allowed to be here?”

“Oi, oi, oi. You don’t have your armband on. What dorm do you belong to, kid?” the tall student cracked his knuckles.

“Don’t think we’re gonna let you go without asking you why you got that scent all over you,” the black-eared student growled.

“Yeah. How come you smell like Dorm Head when you’re so disgustingly weak looking? Don’t tell me you went and filched his clothes.”

“’Cause we’ll beat it into ya,” Black Ears bared sharp teeth, “that the _worst_ place you could steal from is Savana. Aaah?”

Yuu squinted at them confusedly. “Um, sorry but I have no idea what you’re saying. I didn’t steal anything, and I don’t know who your Dorm Head is.”

“ _You don’t know who our Dorm Head is_!?” both of them chorused.

The first one slammed his fist into a hand. “Oh hell no. Bro, we can’t let this disrespectful flea go. Not when he just dissed our Dorm Head.”

“Hell yeah, brother. I’ve been pretty irritated lately. Good thing this prey showed up out of nowhere,” black ears rolled his neck threateningly. “Hey, you idiot kid, you should curse your stars that you met with us today. We ain’t gonna let you off that easy.”

“No wonder they have a lion as their crest.” Yuu palmed her wand and raised a brow. “Has anyone told you guys you’re all brawn and no brains? Why would you suddenly attack a random student? Unless there’s a law forbidding me to approach this dorm.”

“Law? The laws are unwritten here, moron,” snorted the tall student. “But the first one I’ll teach ya with my fists is—never trespass on Savana territory!”

Yuu jumped back out of the entranceway as he swung. The fist whistled past her nose alarmingly quickly—he was fast, faster than anyone she’d seen, faster than even Deuce when he’d punched the lights out of the Heartslabyul upperclassmen before—

“Ha! You little mouse. You’re too slow!” the one with black ears jeered, pulling back his fist.

Yuu yelped as the first one fisted her collar and dangled her off the ground. She barely held on to the shrunken tart in her pocket to prevent it from falling out. But in this awkward position she couldn’t move freely to avoid the punch, so instead of drawing her wand, she curled up small and prepared for the pain to hit. Man, these dudes with animal ears were—

“Hey,” snarled a low voice, “what the hell are you bastards doing?”

—so quick-tempered.

Before she could crack her eyes open, Yuu was dropped to the ground unceremoniously; she stumbled a couple steps before managing to find her balance and look around.

“Leona-san!” gasped the one with the black ears.

Yuu perked up. Indeed, approaching them from inside the darkened doorway were Leona Kingscholar’s nearly fluorescent green eyes narrowed in a glare. His velvet brown hair fell freely down what looked like a black leather biker vest, two loose braids dangling at his shoulders.

“Welcome back,” the tall student stumbled over his words, switching abruptly to polite speech. “Has—”

“I asked you,” growled Leona, crossing his bare arms so that muscle visibly rippled against his forearms, “what the hell you were doing. _Aah?_ ”

The students panicked. “There was this little mouse running around—”

“Wanted to teach him a lesson—”

“How many times,” Leona narrowed those green eyes even further, several strands of dark hair falling across his face. “Did I say. _Not to cause problems?_ With the tournament lined up next month, you don’t want to know what I’ll do to you if I see you turning to public violence again.”

The tall student gasped. “Of course not,” he snapped to attention, “I apologize, Leona-san.”

“We weren’t thinking.” The one with the black ears backed off, both hands up in supplication. “Don’t worry, Leona-san. We won’t cause any trouble for you.”

“Hmph.” Leona jerked his well-formed chin in the air. “Get lost.”

Yuu dusted herself off with a sigh of relief, turning to him with a smile as the two of them ran for the transporting mirror. “Phew. Thanks, Leona-senpai. You saved me.”

Leona took two steps out into the sunlight, his bronze skin glowing. The day set the necklaces across his collar ablaze with multicoloured jewels, not the least of which was gold. Underneath the biker vest he wore only a cut-open shirt in gold and black that did nothing to cover the exposed muscle. Leona uncrossed his arms and glared at her in irritation. “Are you an idiot?”

“I seem to get asked that question quite a lot,” she observed. For a Ravenclaw, it would have been the highest insult, but Yuu had never been a typical Ravenclaw.

“Why the hell are you here?” Leona clicked his tongue at her impatiently. “If I hadn’t gotten here in time, you’d have had your nose broken.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I would have deserved it too.” Yuu winced. “To be honest, I should have probably just asked to find you during school instead.”

“…Hah? You’re looking for _me_?” Leona looked disgusted. “Listen. Just because I know what you are doesn’t mean I’m going to help you any time you ask. Go beg Crowley or something.”

“What are you talking about?” Yuu wrinkled her nose at him. “I don’t want your help. I’m just here to return my thanks for not spilling the beans earlier. And for lending me your vest.”

“…Return?” Leona blinked those catlike eyes once, twice. “To me?”

“It’s just manners to repay debts,” Yuu shrugged. It was also a good logical decision—she would be in trouble if Leona decided to hold the debt over her head later on.

One ear twitching, the third year in front of her stared at her like she was an alien.

Yuu, who was used to that look by now, ignored it. “Don’t worry, senpai. I have no intentions of bothering you more than necessary. Here, let me just hand it to you and I’ll leave.”

Leona put up a gloved hand, two multicoloured bracelets sliding down his arm. “Wait. You…came all the way here into Savanaclaw territory to repay me?”

“I didn’t know that it was an unwritten rule that foreigners weren’t allowed here,” Yuu said sheepishly. “Sorry if I caused your dorm trouble. Your Dorm Head isn’t going to come out and Behead me or something, is he?”

Leona stared at her before he shook his head with an incredulous laugh. “…Right,” he said, “different world.”

“What?”

“Leona-san! I got your afternoon snack ready. Are you going to take it in the…” the honey-brown-haired person with the huge ears popped into the entrance and stopped talking, squinting at her. “Who’re you?”

“Oh, we met before, briefly,” she lowered her head in greeting. “I’m Yuu. You’re uh…”

“Right, you were with Leona-san in the gardens a couple weeks ago. Ruggie Bucchi.” Ruggie grinned, adjusting the yellow patterned scarf wrapped loosely around his neck. “But man, coming into Savanaclaw alone? You sure got guts, li’l kid. Good thing Leona-san found you, else you would’ve been chewed to pieces.”

“I guess I owe him again,” sighed Yuu. How was she going to pay him back now?

“Ruggie.” Leona turned. “Set up the snacks in the lounge. For two.”

“Huh?” Ruggie and Yuu echoed simultaneously.

“You’ve got something for me, don’t you?” Leona’s tail swished in her direction impatiently. “Hurry up, herbivore.”

“Okay?” Yuu followed him under the heavy curtain.

“What’d you do to get into his good graces?” Ruggie whispered to her, tugging at a matching black vest. “You even sorta smell like him.”

“Uh…I don’t know?” she said hesitantly. She couldn’t exactly tell him Leona was only being semi-polite to her because she was female.

Still, Leona sure was proud, ordering his friend around like a servant. Ruggie didn’t seem to mind, so she refrained from making a stupid comment about it. It was none of her business anyway.

Yuu followed the two of them into the dorm, but stopped walking accidentally when they reached the lounge. She sucked in an amazed breath. “Wow!”

The lounge was cut open to the elements in lieu of having windows; across a build-up of sienna rock was a small wooden fence lined with palm trees that peeked out to the bright daytime sky. What was more impressive was the gigantic rushing waterfall coming down at them from several levels above, hitting a number of ledges to descend into a clear blue pool of water that flowed backwards deeper into the castle. A walkway of wood curved right behind the falls, supporting several deck chairs on tribal carpet; the rest of the room was carved in several levels of rock interspersed with greenery.

Students lounged across the rock and carpet without discrimination, chatting and laughing. Electric lights—Deuce and Trey had explained to her that NRC’s lights were powered by magic stones—glowed between patches of rock, warming the room. Almost all of the students had ears, a tail, or most commonly, both; a few of them were curled up against each other in piles, napping.

When she slowed, jaw dropping at the incredible sight, Leona coiled his tail around her wrist and dragged her over to the back of the room, where curtains covered an alcove table snuggled cosily to a circular sofa in muted reds. Ruggie, who’d gotten the hint of a flicked ear, gave the two of them another strange look before he disappeared behind a curtain.

Yuu sat obediently on the maroon sofa—she sank a good inch into the plush fabric—and Leona slid liquidly into the seat across from her, yawning.

“This place is _amazing_ ,” Yuu breathed, leaning forward in her excitement, “It’s beautiful! Can you swim in that pool? Who made it? Don’t tell me it’s natural!”

Leona’s eye twitched, but he managed to catch himself before he insulted her again. “…Calm down and stop yapping.”

“Sorry.” Yuu cleared her throat and retreated back to the sofa. Under pretext of rummaging through her book bag, she withdrew the Shrunken tart from her pocket and Enlarged it in the bag. “Here, this is what I brought for you.”

The marron tart looked delicious in its glass container even as she surreptitiously cancelled the Stasis charm on it; it really had been too much of a waste to watch the tart get destroyed. Yet there would be too many questions asked if it showed up again—even if they did know she used magic now, they’d seen the other tart get destroyed—so Yuu decided she’d make a better use of the tart and pay back some of her debt simultaneously. Plus, Trey’s cooking was nothing to scoff at.

Leona raised an impressed eyebrow. “Hush money?”

“A bunch of us made it together,” explained Yuu, setting it in front of him. “I ate one of the other ones, but it tasted really good, so don’t worry about the flavour. Though I’m not sure if you like sweets or not.”

Ruggie appeared, carrying a large tray of what looked like tropical fruit and two tall glasses of frothy yellow tipped with lime. “Kept you waiting. Whoa! What’s with that delicious lookin’ tart over there? Don’t tell me that’s the thing you wanted to hand off to Leona-san?”

“That’s right,” Yuu smiled as he set one of the glasses in front of her. “Wow, thanks for the drink.”

“ _Shi shi shi_.” Ruggie laughed it off. “No problem. But what did Leona-san help you with? To get such a big reward in return. Actually, why on earth did he help you in the first place?”

“Tch. You’re too loud, Ruggie,” Leona flicked an ear at him in irritation, reaching for something that looked like a slice of pomelo.

“I’m the new Directing Student—you might have heard of me,” Yuu said dryly, sipping at the drink in front of her. “This is amazing. Ruggie-san, did you make this?”

“ _Shi shi shi_. Sure did! I’m pretty confident in this one, though Leona-san refuses to praise me for it,” Ruggie showed his sharpened teeth in a grin, sliding into the seat beside her deftly. “And wait, what? Directing Student? You? No wonder you stumbled in here with that dumb-looking face without a single shred of wariness.”

“I’m aware that I was being pretty stupid,” she said sheepishly, budging over to give him space. “But me getting in NRC was kind of a last-minute thing so I knew literally nothing about the place. After I nearly tripped over Leona-senpai in the garden, I bugged him until he gave me some tips. He’s my benefactor.”

Ruggie gaped at her. “Do you know no fear?”

“I mean, senpai’s pretty nice,” she shrugged. At least to women, Leona acted rough but behaved rather politely.

“Senpai’s…pretty…nice…” Ruggie turned his disbelieving stare on Leona. “…Leona-san, did you suddenly develop a weakness for scrawny little kids or something after all your complaining?”

“Shut up, Ruggie,” Leona growled across the table at him. “Oi, Directing Student. Don’t come to Savana without someone from the dorm with you in the future. Got it? You’ll really get your nose broken this time.”

“Aye aye, captain,” Yuu saluted him with a smile.

“And he’s giving him more _advice_!” Ruggie gasped. He took hold of her hand, huge grey eyes sparkling as a grin slid across his face. “Kid! Yuu-kun! Let’s be friends. If you can calm down the legendary temper of Leona-san’s then I’ll…your hands are _tiny!_ ”

Yuu blinked at him several times. This guy changed topics at the speed of light. “Are they really that small?”

“I thought I was skinny.” Ruggie squinted at her, squeezing her fingers experimentally. “Are you seriously sixteen, cub? Not six?”

“Why does everyone keep saying that,” she muttered. “I’m fifteen. Are you Leona-senpai’s acquaintance, Ruggie-san? Wait, what year are you?”

“Second Year, Class B,” Ruggie winked at her. “Nice ta meet’cha. Let’s get along, Yuu-kun.”

“Nice to meet you senpai.” Yuu grinned back. “I mean I don’t see what you would gain from being friends with me, but sure, I guess. By the way, can I ask you guys a question?”

“Shoot,” he leaned forwards and stole a slice of grapefruit.

“Those ears and tails everywhere,” Yuu squinted confusedly around the lounge. “Um, they’re real, right?”

Ruggie choked.

—

After a long explanation about the Therianthropes that were almost always sorted into Savanaclaw, as well as a discussion of their advantages over humans, Yuu’s mind had floated into outer space. She hadn’t expected that this world would have separate _species_ that intermingled with the human race and in fact, had better senses and athletic abilities than they did.

“That’s cheating,” she blurted out, “you guys are better in every single way, aren’t you!”

Leona rolled his eyes. Ruggie, on the other hand, had tipped over snickering.

Ruggie Bucchi seemed to find Yuu endlessly interesting, funny, whatever way she wanted to spin it. His large grey eyes had a decidedly calculating glint as he examined her. Yet when she asked him what kind of ears he had, he’d told her readily enough that he was a hyena Therianthrope and that Leona was, aptly, a lion.

Her question concerning if they could shift into animal forms, though, had broken his control over his laughter, sending him into hysterics until Leona kicked him out for being too loud. Yuu had no idea what it was about her statement that had made the two of them react so unexpectedly. Was there some sort of common knowledge of this world she was missing out on?

“Nice to meet’cha, Yuu-kun!” Ruggie grinned ear to ear as he departed their table. When he waved, she was surprised at how bony his wrists were. “See ya ‘round sometime!”

“Bye,” Yuu waved back with a grin. “Ruggie-senpai seems like a nice guy.”

Leona snorted. “ _That_ is not a nice guy. He was laughing _at_ you, not with you.”

Yuu glanced around and then scooted around the couch to sit beside him. “Leona-senpai,” she whispered, “can everyone hear me if I whisper like this?”

“You’re fine,” Leona yawned, tossing a cherry into his mouth. “I’m blocking their way. No one in their right mind would eavesdrop on me anyway.”

“Ruggie-senpai and the other two Savanaclaw students said I smell. Could they tell I smelt like a…not-male?” she asked him lowly.

Leona, who seemed to have lost most of his bad mood as he ate, leaned forwards and traced his nose from her head to her neck obligingly. “…It’s better,” he said grudgingly after a few inhales. “Though you smell like the infirmary…Crewel…and Crowley more than anything. What, got injured lately?”

His voice was teasing, so Yuu nodded back without much thought. “Yes, though thanks to Professor Crewel it’s mostly better now.”

The air around them prickled. Leona growled out, “ _Hah?_ ”

She jumped in her seat. “What?”

“Explain. Now.”

Unsure why he was so angry, Yuu gave him a brief account of what had occurred over the past week or two since she’d met him, surreptitiously examining the roaring lion inked in black on his left arm to avoid meeting his glare. She hesitated a little when she got to the Overblot—didn’t know if it was appropriate to let him know—but since she still owed Leona, and perhaps because she had always loved animals, she ended up telling him everything that had happened after warning him not to let it pass beyond the two of them.

The one thing she kept under wraps was her magic. It wasn’t wise to reveal _all_ her cards.

Leona listened just like he had when she’d first met him—with the same coolly disinterested look in his dull green eyes, but a swishing tail that urged her on. Despite being warned time and again that there were no good people—no trustworthy people—within the boundaries of the NRC, Yuu thought that apart from Trey (which was mostly because his resemblance to Professor Potter), she liked Leona the best. There was something refreshing about someone who disregarded her so totally with the absence of politeness that suggested power or honesty or both.

Not that he seemed brash, but the sharpness around him that cut to the quick fast felt good in the same way as she’d been more comfortable with Crewel barking commands at her. Yuu liked clean-cut directions more than ambivalent people.

She still wasn’t sure what to make of his behaviour towards her as a girl, but Yuu also enjoyed talking to him because she felt like he was listening far deeper than what she was saying on the surface. As expected of NRC—its students were all ridiculously intelligent.

When she got to the part about being hurt in the scuffle during Riddle’s Overblot, the tail whipped her gently across the arm. Leona gave her a singularly repulsed look, as if he couldn’t believe she had been this stupid, before reaching forward with one gloved hand and seizing her around the chin. “Are you _trying_ to get yourself killed?”

“It turned out fine.” Yuu let him turn her face left and right, as if searching for a wound.

“Do you know how rare and dangerous Overblots are?” Leona put his head in a hand, still clutching her cheeks. “Wait. Don’t answer that, herbivore.”

“It’s a different world,” she sang.

Leona let her go after flicking her in the forehead. “You’re an absolute fool. An absolute. Fool. Where’s your sense of self-preservation? Your intelligence? I’d thought you were smart enough to scrape by in this school. I take it all back.”

“Senpai,” Yuu said, rubbing at her forehead sorely, “You sure like to insult people.”

“I don’t make it a hobby of insulting women,” he snapped. Leona focused that narrow-eyed green glare at her, shadows deepening on the scar that bisected his left eye as he leaned in. “I just can’t believe there is a living female that would _throw herself headfirst into an explosion_.”

“Overblotting is like an explosion?”

“It’s worse. How the hell did you end up alive?”

“We stopped him together,” Yuu shrugged. Her wand buzzed excitedly against her arm.

“Ha…!” Leona shook his head, looking reluctantly impressed. “Stopped him. Without magic? You’re either disgustingly lucky or there’s something more to you than meets the eye.”

“Either way, I got injured and so was in the infirmary until this morning,” finished Yuu with a smile. “Oh, though Headmaster and Professor Crewel ended up finding out about my…you know.”

“And you’re still here?” Leona raised both eyebrows now, looking engaged.

“Headmaster was really happy for some reason,” Yuu shrugged. “But Professor Crewel was angry at him for forcing me to live in the Ramshackle Dorm.”

“You still _live_ in the Ramshackle Dorm,” Leona repeated. He shook his head. “You sure can withstand some unbearable things, herbivore. I would have smashed down Crowley’s door right away and demanded it to be rebuilt.”

“It’s not that bad.” Yuu imagined Leona kicking down Crowley’s door and snickered. “I’m being given lodging for free. Though Professor Crewel was all for me moving.”

“…So that’s why Crowley was running away from Crewel this morning during alchemy,” muttered Leona.

“Really?” Yuu perked up. “That sounds hilarious.”

“You really are kind of interesting, aren’t you,” Leona shook his head slowly, those laser green eyes trained on her. “Crewel…huh. You managed to convince both Crowley and Crewel to let you stay here? Dressed like a boy? I’ll admit it: I’m impressed.”

“Right, it seems like this world is quite sweet on women,” Yuu nodded. “Where I come from there’s some of that, but I’m not used to getting special treatment because of my gender. So to be honest, people behaving nice to me just puts me on edge.”

“There’s nothing scarier than unfounded kindness,” Leona agreed, leaning back. “Though in Twisted Wonderland—where I come from, only the lowest of the low take cheap shots on women. Attacking women is not only stupid, but it shows how low your pride really is.”

“I’m going to have to get used to that,” she sighed weakly. “To be honest, it sort of stings when people treat me differently. Like they’re changing their perception of me due to something I couldn’t change. I didn’t ask to be born a girl.”

Leona swung his gaze down to her sharply. “…Don’t you want to be treated appropriately, regardless of the reason?”

Yuu noted that Leona spoke with poise when he was surprised. “Not really,” she said honestly, “because it’s false treatment. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a big fan of being treated worse because of something out of my control either. It’s just—I try not to be too proud, but I guess it stings my pride. I don’t need anyone’s false pity or praise because I’m a girl…it just shows me there’s a huge ravine between me and them.”

“A huge ravine, huh.” Leona swirled his drink absently in his glass. “And every time they repeat those words, you’re shown just how uncrossable that ravine is.”

“So I’m not anything to be impressed about,” Yuu gave him a self-deprecating smile, “it’s all my own ego. There’s nothing to admire.”

Leona’s mouth curved in an unfamiliar kind of bitter smile. “Now that I can understand.”

“Wonder if there’s some magical formula that can turn me into a boy,” Yuu mused, “so I don’t have to waste time on this problem anymore.”

“Pfft!” to her surprise, he bent over and let out a laugh. “You really are different.”

“That sounds kind of like you’re making fun of me, senpai,” Yuu deadpanned.

“I haven’t seen someone as uninterested in themselves as you are in a long time,” Leona shook his head at her, grinning. “Will you get pissed if I treat you like a lady?”

“No. I mean, I appreciate it. It’s this…feeling of exclusion that I don’t really like,” Yuu shrugged with a self-deprecating grin. “My sore spot? Though I never noticed it before I came here.”

“That, I can understand,” Leona said uncharacteristically sombrely. “…Don’t worry. I won’t treat you like that. No one should be treated like that.”

Yuu smiled up at him. “I still think you’re a nice guy, Leona-senpai. No matter what you say.”

“Ha.” Leona showed her his canines, a playful light brightening his lazy green eyes. “Let’s see how long you can keep that up, herbivore. Be careful that one day I don’t rip you to pieces.”

—

Heartslabyul’s second Unbirthday Party was much smaller than the first—mostly because almost all of the dorm students were busy replanting rosebushes and preparing for some sort of tournament selection Yuu wasn’t too clear on. She’d offered to help out with the replanting until one glance from Riddle silenced her. This guy was seriously a Queen. More accurately, a King. Whatever he was, she was not ready to stage a revolt against this particular ruler.

Instead, the seven of them (Grim included) had gathered around a pristinely made circular table in the Tea Garden while sounds of students digging and shouting were heard outside.

Inside the garden, the abrupt departure from the chaos of uprooted trees, dirt piles and splashed paint was nearly surreal. It felt like they had entered a dream world with the nearly designed decorations piling left and right and the little dormouse sleeping blissfully in an extra teapot. The atmosphere was such a divergence from the Savanaclaw dorm that Yuu was getting whiplash.

Back in Savanaclaw’s beautiful lounge, Yuu had gotten wrapped up in her conversation with Leona to the point where she’d forgotten about the time. Five minutes before she was supposed to meet Ace and Deuce at the mirror, Ruggie’s reappearance in the lounge asking Leona what he wanted for dinner made her get up in a hurry, leap out of the alcove, and nearly pitch into the pond. If Leona hadn’t caught hold of her stomach she really would have tumbled headfirst into the river.

Ruggie was full-on gawking at her when Leona set her back on her feet. He made a funny squeaking noise after Leona told him he’d be back after sending her off. Yuu thought the sending-off thing was a bit much, especially in front of someone who didn’t know she was a girl, but Leona didn’t seem like he was ready to accept any protesting. This guy was just as bad as Riddle, if not worse.

Headmaster, you’re right, Yuu thought dryly as she waved to a frozen Ruggie on their way out. Every single person here has an ego the size of a small planet.

But Leona was nice no matter how much he growled, because once she’d admitted to him she was afraid of Mirror travel (he’d asked her why she smelt so scared), he’d gone all the way through with her like a gentleman before heading back alone with a yawn. It was only after she arrived by the Heartslabyul mirror just in time to meet her friends that she found what looked like a small spray bottle in her pocket.

Yuu decided to leave whatever that was for later. Especially because…

“ _What the heck!_ ” Ace choked. “Salt. Salt! It tastes too salty! Water…water…”

…Right now, there were more pressing matters at hand.

Yuu passed him her half-drunk teacup. “It’s jasmine tea, but better than nothing.”

Ace gulped it all down and pounded a choking Deuce on the back. “Yuu…” he gasped through teary eyes, “how the hell are you swallowing that?”

Grim looked at them uncomprehendingly, demolishing his slice and starting on a second without complaint.

“It’s pretty salty, but it’s not unpalatable.” She cut into the slice of tart that Riddle had painstakingly made himself as an apology at Ace’s behest. “Plus, Rosehearts-senpai hand-made it. I gotta reward his effort somehow, right? It’d be bad manners to _not_ eat it.”

“Yuu…” Riddle looked rather embarrassedly pleased. “I don’t know why it’s so salty. I followed the recipe to the letter.”

“The only way it could get this salty is if someone mixed the salt and the sugar,” Deuce said weakly, his eyes watering.

Yuu poured him a cup of tea. “It tastes fishier than anything to me.”

“Wait a second…” Trey, who had been hovering over the three of them at the table, took a step back at her words. “Don’t tell me you put the secret ingredient in, Riddle!?”

“The oyster sauce?” Riddle blinked innocently. “Of course I did. You said it would bring the flavour out in the tart, didn’t you? Though I didn’t know how much to put, since there was no direction on the bottle, so I just added a sizeable amount.”

“ _Geh_ …” Cater, who had been filming Ace and Deuce’s tragedy, lowered his phone, eye twitching. “Trey-kun, this is why you need to stop lying. You’re so good at it that everyone’s going to believe you.”

Yuu winced. No matter how much she liked Trey and how good she thought he was to his childhood friend, it was true that she couldn’t quite get over her slight caution around him. Most likely unfounded—but still.

Grim had no scruples about saying it out loud. “You’re a pretty crafty guy, huh? You’re so good at lying you scared my henchman for a while.”

Yuu dropped her fork. “Grim!” she hissed. She hadn’t expected him to read her so well—but then, she was always together with him, so it was inevitable that he knew her.

Grim blinked at her with his huge blue eyes. “What?”

“Don’t be rude to your upperclassman!”

“But I was telling the truth.”

Yuu felt herself turning red. She turned to Trey in a panic and lowered her head in embarrassment and apology. “Um, sorry senpai. It’s not that I was scared of you I just—”

“Don’t worry about it,” Trey hurried to reassure her with his usual smile.

“I thought Ace-chan was the smartest one out of you four,” Cater cut her off cheerfully. “Didn’t expect it was Yuu-chan.”

“Don’t use that suffix with me!” Ace growled through his second cup of tea.

Riddle was eyeing her in interest again. “Indeed. I don’t know how I missed someone as intelligent as Yuu before.”

“Yuu’s wicked smart!” Deuce bragged, still looking a little ill, “but what does that have to do with anything?”

“You two little kids just stay the way you are,” Cater winked at them.

“Huh!?” Ace stuck out his tongue. “Gross, senpai.”

Trey laughed benignly. “Now, now. Don’t tease the first years.”

“Hey Yuu-chan!” Cater beckoned her over from across the table.

Yuu slid out of her seat and jogged over to him, leaning in so he could whisper in her ear as the others resumed light conversation. “Senpai?”

“Don’t worry,” Cater said in a low voice. “It’s true that Trey-kun has a…bottomless depth to him that no one’s ever seen, but he’s harmless ninety-nine percent of the time.”

“I know he’s a good…A sort-of good? A normal guy,” she hissed back, “but once you see the yawning abyss it’s hard to just sort of ignore it!”

“You’re too serious!” Cater grinned over at her. “Relax, relax! It won’t affect you…probably ever. So don’t worry about it.”

“…Won’t affect me?” she squinted at him suspiciously. “How do you know, senpai? Are you best friends with him?”

“Pfft. No way. That guy keeps others at arm’s length.” Cater’s smile gained a sharp edge. “But me and Riddle-kun have hung out with him long enough and you don’t come to NRC without learning how to read people. Trey-kun is grateful to you for saving Riddle-kun, you know. He’s on your side.”

“…Should I be afraid of you?” Yuu asked him curiously. “’Cause I’m sure there’s more to you that meets the eye.”

“In this school, it’s better not to say that stuff to someone’s face,” Cater advised her, the smile never changing. “We all like you here, Yuu-chan, so we won’t mind so much if you’re honest with us, but…”

“You like me?” Yuu blinked. “But why?”

“ _That’s_ why.” Cater reached forward and patted her hair. “Plus…Me and Trey are from households full of people. You’re the kind of kid who’s the antithesis of that. It’s a big brother’s instinct to dote on cute little siblings who listen to them.”

“…I have no idea what you’re saying?”

“That’s okay,” Cater’s hazel green eyes narrowed. “Yuu-chan, you’ve earned your stripes in Heartslabyul. That’s all you need to know. So don’t worry.”

Yuu was sure she didn’t deserve this positive emotion aimed towards her. She was far more used to the shoves in the hallway, the doodling on her desk, the way a Savanaclaw student had grabbed her by the collar. Still, Yuu liked Cater and Trey and Riddle, _really_ liked these five people in a way she’d never liked anyone before, so she smiled back hesitantly.

“Good kid.” Cater leaned back and glanced around the table. “So by the way, weren’t we talking about transferring Yuu-chan into our dorm?”

“Oh, right,” Riddle set down his teacup with barely a _clink_ , long red eyelashes shading his eyes briefly. “Trey. How’s that going?”

“I’ve got all of the paperwork in order, but it seems like there needs to be the consent of two professors and the headmaster as well as a good reason.” Trey had taken a seat by his other side so subtly she hadn’t noticed. He put his chin on a hand and shot her a wink. “I was just waiting to see what excuse we should make up.”

Yuu straightened and put out both hands to stop them. “Wait, wait, _wait_ a second please,” she spluttered. “Who said anything about transferring dorms?”

“You said you liked Heartslabyul.” Deuce, who’d recovered from the salty tart, looked at her with those guileless teal eyes like it was natural.

Ace smirked. “So we figured you probably wanted to come live with us.”

“ _You_ ,” breathed Yuu, “were the one who suggested it, weren’t you.”

“You can thank me later.”

Deuce looked confused. “Isn’t it a good thing?”

“There is something called getting one’s permission, first,” Yuu told him dryly.

“Even if he hadn’t suggested it, I would have been speaking directly to the Headmaster in our next meeting,” Riddle sniffed superciliously. “Honestly. Forcing such a small child to live by himself in ruins. The nerve of that man.”

“You know, I’m only a year or two younger than you,” Yuu raised her hand. They all ignored her.

“I’ve never been, but Cater showed me pictures,” Trey nodded reasonably, that signature warm smile on his face. “It’s far too dangerous for you, transfer. We’ll fix it.”

“Seriously, it’s okay, you know. Ramshackle has grown on me,” Yuu said frantically. It would be tough to conceal her gender in a shared dorm.

“Nonsense,” Riddle barked, narrowing those huge grey eyes at her commandingly. “You need to learn how to rely on people around you, Yuu.”

“Trey bakes every week,” Cater tempted her with a grin.

“But Cater doesn’t like sweets so he always finds a way for me to Doodle Suit it into what he wants to eat at the moment,” Trey shot back.

“Ah~. Was I so obvious?” Cater laughed sheepishly. “C’mon, Yuu-chan! It’ll be fun! We’ll welcome you here anytime.”

“You wouldn’t say no, right?” Deuce smiled at her without an ounce of doubt in his eyes. Yuu briefly thought he was the worst one out of everything here solely because he had the purest intentions in mind.

“We should ask Grim’s opinion,” she hurried to point out, looking around. “Since Grim’s a student along with…Grim?”

The five others all looked at where Yuu had been sitting. Grim, who had polished off Riddle’s oyster tart, was lying flat upon his back on the white tablecloth, snoring gently. His bulging stomach moved with every breath.

“He’ll get hairs all over the table,” Riddle frowned disapprovingly.

“He _ate_ that?” Deuce said, awed.

“I think I just gained some respect for the little furball,” Ace whispered.

Cater and Trey traded glances and at once, they all burst out laughing.

—

“I still don’t get why you need to do a stupid interview,” Grim grumbled, rolling around on Ramshackle’s biggest bed. “They fixed the hot water and gave me tuna cans. What else do you need?”

Yuu yawned, wondering how she was supposed to tie the striped tie included with her uniform. Having never worn ties underneath her robes—learning from her father how to tie one was out of the question—the long fabric looked impossible to fold. She gave up and made a butterfly knot instead. “Grim,” she sighed, “I only have a stack of these uniforms right now. No normal clothing.”

“So? Just wear those all the time.”

“And my other clothes got destroyed in the Overblot fiasco.” Yuu gave him a look. “It’s not the most comfortable wearing a uniform all the time. More importantly, the uniforms will get wrinkled and I’ll get in trouble with Rosehearts-senpai.”

“…Just ask that Crowley to get you some more,” Grim bounded over to the dresser where she was getting dressed and snuggled against her hand, making attractive purring noises. “You don’t need a job.”

She smiled at him fondly. For all everyone said about Yuu not being a typical NRC student, she was aware, at least, that Crowley was not a good person. Asking for favours from him was like sticking her hand into the mouth of a dragon.

“Grim,” Yuu said gently, setting the small bottle she’d found in her pocket on the dresser. She still needed to ask Leona if he’d maybe slipped it to her last time.

“ _Funa_?” Grim peered up at her with those huge blue eyes.

Her smile went wicked. “I’ll buy you canned tuna every week from Mister S’s shop once I get my first paycheque.”

“Deal!” Grim stopped rubbing at her hand immediately, ears going pin straight. “…Plus it’s not like you’ll pass the interview for sure.”

“Hey,” she said mildly. “I want to pass it. I know you don’t know much about human beings, Grim, but they need money. I don’t have any money so I can’t even get extra underwear and socks for myself.” Crewel had supplied her with several sets, but it was best to have a fallback in case something unexpected happened. Like an Overblot.

Grim puffed out his cheeks. “…But what am I supposed to do while you’re working?” he asked plaintively.

Yuu sighed and hugged him to her. “Oh, Grim,” she said helplessly. “I’m sorry. I’ll ask if they’ll let you watch while I’m working, okay?”

“Okay,” Grim mumbled against her shirt. “I still hope you don’t get the job.”

At first, Crewel had tried to persuade Crowley—with his crop—to give her an allowance, but Yuu firmly denied it. She was already receiving free shelter and food from him, and now she had a row of uniforms lined up in her closet too. Day by day she stacked up the amount of resources she’d spent in this world—in this school. She wasn’t expecting Crowley to hold it over her head, but Yuu herself didn’t like owing anyone anything.

Was it her own pride? Perhaps. Yuu had never had anyone do anything for her—since she was small, she’d been by herself. Fended for herself. Suffered by herself. Being handed things just felt strange and uncomfortable. Too good to be true.

There was the issue of staying too long in a foreign world, there was the issue of relying on someone who she couldn’t trust, but in the end, she was beginning to think it just came down to her stupid ego.

Yuu thought that she might have been suited for this school after all. Every last one of its students was narcissistic, proud, arrogant. And she was starting to believe she was no exception.

Crowley had then suggested, after her refusal to accept money, that she work with Sam at his shop. Yuu had turned that down right away. Sam had already said he didn’t take any hired hands and she wasn’t here to make _more_ trouble for him just because of her desire to work to make money. Crewel had sniffed and said something about it being the duty of an owner to keep up the grooming on his pets and told her she should just act like a dumb puppy and let herself be groomed, but Yuu shook her head.

In the end, Crowley handed her two options. One was to work in the kitchens—whose peak hours were during lunch and dinner—and one was to submit a job application at the only other business within school grounds.

The former was rather unrealistic to consider, as Yuu would have to be up much earlier for a breakfast shift, skip classes for a lunch shift, and miss any potential activities during an evening shift after school. However, when she asked for more information about the latter option, both Crewel and Crowley exchanged complicated glances.

For some reason, neither of them had been eager to suggest her the privately-run café called ‘Mostro Lounge’, though Yuu thought it was an excellent option. Not only were they seeking part-timers, but a privately-run company—by students, no less!—meant that rules wouldn’t be enforced by the school. Which, in turn, meant more freedom concerning hours, tips, and working styles.

Apparently, the dormitory in which it was located, Octavinelle, was situated entirely underwater, so Crewel gave her a small bottle he told her to drink the contents of if, for some reason, she was to enter the sea against her will. He told her it would help her to stay alive until she reached the surface again.

Underwater, Yuu repeated, excited in spite of the professors’ cautions. The entire _dorm_ was located at the bottom of an ocean. An _ocean!_

Her interest sufficiently hooked, Yuu submitted her job application on the spot—Crowley sighed and reluctantly promised he’d send it out for her—and received an embossed invitation for an interview that weekend. That was why, despite Grim’s grumbling, she had straightened out her uniform and tied her tie into a neat bow. All interviews required one to make a suitable first impression. Which meant that she left way earlier than she needed to—Yuu was counting on getting lost again.

It was all the same when she volunteered to do neighbours’ chores for cash; when she had teamed up with some of the Ravenclaws and Slytherins to earn money during the summer of her second year. One needed to look the part, no matter how unqualified they were on the inside, to gain a reputation and therefore money.

So Yuu tied her lengthening hair tightly into a bun at her nape, clipped back her bangs at Crewel’s advising, and shoved herself through Octavinelle’s shell-covered mirror before she could give herself time to fear it.

When the light cleared this time, Yuu was confronted with a vast blue sea swelling up to oblivion above her.

Night Raven College had to be _huge_ —the campus itself was just as big as Hogwarts, and the field large enough to hold a stadium plus grounds for club activities, not to mention a garden, a forest, and Sam’s shop. Yet each dormitory had its own separate building surrounded by its own grounds. Heartslabyul was a brick castle with a moat and a labyrinth of rosebushes. Savanaclaw was a fortress hewn out of sandy rock surrounded by wide-open plains of sun-scorched grass.

And Octavinelle was nestled quietly at the mouth of a vast ocean.

For one giddy moment, Yuu had thought she was breathing underwater—but the coral walkway she stood on, leading up, up, up towards the dormitory building, was dry. She craned her neck back and saw the distant sunlight filter through an enormous cylindrical dome of glass stretching far beyond her before the top of the dormitory building broke the surface of the sea; beyond it, more jagged colonies of coral faded into the far distance of blue saltwater. As she watched, a ragged patch of kelp drifted above her head, shading her face briefly. Small glimmers of fish—or were they shells?—blinked in and out of the edges of her vision.

Yuu realized she’d stopped inhaling in awe and sucked in a long, shuddering breath. The air was fresh despite the lack of visible ventilation, although there was a slight burn of a saltwater scent in her nose. Yuu had never been to the ocean, had never been to an aquarium, but the deep, absolute silence she experienced sitting at the bottom of this tube convinced her of its appeal immediately.

Some unidentifiable amount of time passed as Yuu forgot her original purpose and revelled quietly in the blue enveloping her. It was a calming feeling being submerged deep in the ocean—though she was protected by the dome—and Yuu thought she might want to die here one day, fall asleep in this forever blue and drift off peacefully.

Eventually she blinked out of it, because she had an interview to attend and just how long had she been standing on this uneven purple walkway?

Still, Yuu could not stop herself from marvelling as she descended, leaping from chunk of coral to chunk of coral. Several towers sculpted out of purplish rock curved up to the dome like gigantic shells buried in the sand, rows of windows circling up the sides. A particularly large one had the carvings of octopus legs curling upwards until the lilac and lavender banner displaying Octavinelle’s shell crest hung off of a metal trident attached to the tip of one.

What a beautiful…fairy-tale. Yes, fairy-tale was the apt word to describe the uneven purple pillars rising up on either side of her as she neared Octavinelle’s castle. It was fashioned out of lighter purple rock than the surroundings, small streams of bubbles leaving its glowing blue windows, lilac ribbons curling up the two pillars gating it and a host of similar ribbons dancing up the impossibly tall shell-like structure.

Octavinelle looked like a dream out of an underwater fairy-tale.

Yet when Yuu stepped slowly into the entranceway, looking up at the jagged edges above her, she couldn’t shake the premonition of entering the wide-open jaws of a shark.

—

Contrary to the rather old-fashioned appearance of its outsides, Octavinelle was the most modern dorm she had seen yet, a great deal more so than the natural roughness of Savanaclaw or the eighteenth-century England of Heartslabyul. Close to the entranceway of the dorm had been a velvet-lined set of stairs, lit with soft blue electrical light, down into the opening of a dark entranceway titled _Mostro Lounge_ in elegant cursive.

Briefly, she wondered why the written language alternated between English and Japanese when everyone spoke flawless Japanese, regardless of ethnicity. Yuu dismissed it for now—there were far more important things to be worrying about. She’d leave that puzzle for later. For now, it was enough to be grateful that she didn’t get lost right away.

Yuu slowly descended the wide stairway, reminded of a movie theatre’s light-embedded steps, admiring the carved wooden handles. To her surprise, the staircase pointed straight out of the building down a long, narrowly designed path that led outside, cutting through the sea. Yuu made her way back into the blue ocean and down the pathway into the open bony jaws of a smaller building fashioned from a fish. Once again, _Mostro Lounge_ was fashioned in the same cursive across the entrance.

However, Mostro Lounge was nothing like the café she expected. Instead of chairs, luxurious black sofas surrounded ivory-purple tables carved elegantly to catch the bright lamplight. The walls were painted a royal violet, save for the back wall, which was made entirely of glass and outlooked the bottom of a garden of coral fading into the vast plunge of ocean beyond. Jellyfish-shaped chandelier lights hung from the ceiling, their glass-strung legs glittering with the glow of the sea, and a stylishly minimalistic bar lined one side of the café, behind which a barman in a suit was polishing glass against five shelves stacked full of bottles. Unobtrusive jazz music leaked quietly through to her ears.

Once again, Yuu’s breath was stolen—a café was not enough to describe this place. Mostro Lounge, indeed; she wouldn’t be surprised if they tacked on ‘ _and bar_ ’ to the end of it. Was this classy place really a student-managed establishment?

As expected of a Saturday morning, the Lounge was empty of customers; however, Yuu’s open-mouthed examination of the place caught the eye of the barman, who put away his glass and cloth and left the bar politely to approach her.

“Good morning,” he said in a beautifully cultured voice, lowering his head to her with one white-gloved hand pressed politely to his chest. The man took a breath and paused abruptly.

“Morning,” Yuu responded, having to crane her neck up to see his face.

“…How may I help you today?” the barman continued after a period of silence.

Whoops. Had she been rude? “I’m due for an interview today with the manager at Mostro Lounge.”

“Very well,” he responded without a hint of surprise. “The one scheduled for an interview at ten, I see. You have arrived quite a bit earlier than the meeting time, so we will have you wait for a while, if that’s all right with you.” When he stood back up straight, the accented grey stole hanging over his black suit caught the light as he narrowed his gaze at her.

“Of course.” He was so polite that Yuu found herself straightening her back and returning it with the same level of speech. “I apologize for coming so early. Since it was my first time at this dorm, I was expecting to get lost a couple of times.”

“Please don’t apologize. It is a virtue to be punctual.” The man stretched out his hand, indicating the bar and displaying the beginnings of a violet dress shirt under the suit. “I will show you a way, so please follow me.”

“Thank you,” Yuu said cautiously. If everyone was as perfect-looking as this barman she was doubtful she’d even get the time of day, let alone the job, as comparatively unimpressive as she was.

The barman retreated behind the bar after indicating one of the counter chairs at her (again, luxuriously black leather seating and a short metal back). Yuu had to climb up onto it bodily, which made him chuckle politely with a fist covering his ever-smiling mouth. Soon after, he set an iced glass of water before her before returning to a row of wet wineglasses.

Yuu briefly wondered if they sold alcohol underage here before cutting that line of thought off. It wasn’t her business (yet). Instead she examined the barman, because he was the closest thing to what she imagined a butler was that she had ever seen.

Even though she sat on a high bar stool, he towered above her, the fedora perched on his turquoise hair adding an extra few centimetres to his impressive height. It was just as black as the suit, tied with a pale grey ribbon from which a dark purple shell gleamed. This guy would probably make Ace very angry if he was an opponent in the basketball team, she thought, impressed. He shot up over a hundred eighty-five, easily the tallest person she’d seen at this school.

Yuu decided to ignore the yawning vertical chasm between them. She had never been very tall, even for a girl, and she didn’t care. Not one bit. At all.

The stranger’s hair was a beautiful turquoise that matched the sea-hue stretching out to their sides. One streak of black highlight fell elegantly straight past his left cheek. She’d never seen hair that colour before, and his thin eyebrows and long eyelashes matched the blue so that she began to wonder if he was like Teddy Lupin’s deceased mother, Nymphadora Tonks, who had changed hair colours at a mood (according to pictures Victoire Weasley had shown her)—or maybe this world had different rules concerning hair colour. Unlike Tonks, his eyes were heterochromatic; the left shone a brilliant pure gold while the right was a deep olive. Below each eye was a streak of purple tracing the bottom eyelid, though she couldn’t tell if the colour was natural or eyeliner.

The barman chuckled politely and turned his head towards her, a chain of three sea-blue diamonds dangling from his left ear. “Is there something on my face?”

“No sir,” Yuu answered, sipping at her water, “it’s just that it’s the first time I’ve seen someone dressed as smartly as you. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“Well, well.” The smile widened. “Thank you for the compliment…?”

“Yuu,” she introduced herself. “I’m a first year. Class A. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the headmaster appointed me as a Directing Student.”

“Yuu-san.” Again, the barman showed no surprise at all, his face in that ever-present mask of politeness. “I hear much about you indeed. My name is Jade Leech. I am a second year and the Octavinelle’s vice Dorm Head. I look forward to our acquaintance.”

“ _Second_ year!?” Yuu blurted out, then regretted it. “—Um, sorry Leech-senpai. It’s just that you behaved so professionally I had no idea you were a student.”

Jade chuckled again. “You are quite the cute first-year, aren’t you, Yuu-san.”

“Did you rhyme on purpose?” Yuu squinted.

He didn’t change his expression. “I wonder?”

Yuu didn’t quite know what to make of this person called Jade Leech. With that smile he wore as a mask she had no idea if he was lying or not, if he was a student or not, a vice Dorm Head or not, but she supposed it didn’t matter in the end. More importantly… “You hear a lot about me, senpai?”

“Why, yes, we do,” Jade hung a dry glass on the wall and fetched a second one with deft movements. “It is, after all, the first time in the history of this school that a student was admitted to NRC without being able to use magic.”

“To be more specific, half a student,” Yuu explained, “since the other half who _can_ use magic is a Monster called Grim.”

“Ah, yes, the creature who caused trouble at the opening ceremony, among other things.” Jade somehow managed to peek up at her through his lashes despite being taller than her. “I’ve seen him running across the courtyard many a time.”

“Ah ha ha.” Yuu winced. “He’s good at causing trouble. I’ve been trying to get him to stop with mixed success.” 

“For a human without any magic, that is quite the accomplishment,” Jade commented placidly.

Yuu didn’t really think so, but she nodded along and sipped at her ice water.

The two of them descended into quiet for a while after. Yuu was used to silence and didn’t particularly feel the need to overwhelm the lazy jazz music with chatter; instead, she gazed out into the ocean spreading out behind the glass wall with quiet wonder and debated swallowing Crewel’s potion in her pocket to go out for a swim. She had never swum before, but Yuu was already enamoured with the sea.

“Do you like the ocean, Mister Directing Student?” Jade prompted gently.

Absorbed in the scenery, she nodded absently. “I’ve never seen it before today. It’s absolutely beautiful.”

“It is rather nice,” he agreed. “…First time?”

“I’ve never been to an ocean before,” Yuu turned to him with a sheepish smile. “Or any body of water larger than a lake. And that lake was more like a swamp than anything. So forgive me if I’m a little entranced.”

“Hmm.” Jade pressed gloved fingers to his chin in thought. “Usually it seems that non-Octavinelle students are rather frightened by the ocean scenery when they arrive. There _is_ nothing more than a thin piece of enchantment separating them from drowning.”

“That’s true,” Yuu conceded, remembering the dome outside. Had he just made a pun with _sea_ nery?

He raised one elegantly thin eyebrow and she decided not to ask. Jade Leech blinked his heterochromatic eyes at her and asked smoothly, “You’re not afraid?”

This person was beautiful too, Yuu noted absently, in a completely different style of elegant beauty than Leona’s wild handsomeness and Ruggie’s youthfulness. “Not really,” she shook her head, “Sitting at the bottom of this ocean is…rather comforting.”

“Comforting,” repeated Jade quietly. He smiled at her again, that same polite smile. “Mister Directing Student, has anyone told you that you are…especially interesting before?”

“Pretty recently, actually.” Yuu shook her head. “I am personally of the opinion that I’m the most uninteresting human I’ve ever encountered. I can’t even use magic.”

“That makes you all the more interesting,” Jade said politely. “I’m sure there’s more to you than meets the eye.”

Yuu didn’t quite know what to say to that, but she was saved from a response as a second man in a matching suit, unbuttoned, ducked out from a subtly hidden door at the back of the bar. “Jade, have you—oh? A customer this early?”

“Ah, Dorm Head.” Jade turned his smile onto the new arrival. “Mister Directing Student…Yuu-san is scheduled for an interview in another thirteen minutes.”

Yuu slid off the stool to greet the new arrival, who she had recognized from the opening ceremony. He was the polite young man with the thin lenses who had chased Grim together with Riddle. “Nice to meet you, Mister Dorm Head. My name is Yuu and I’m the first year Directing Student.”

“Well, well.” The Dorm Head’s smile revealed a dimple and a small mole at the corner of his mouth. His fedora, matching Jade’s, tipped to the side, exposing a shock of artfully styled silver-white hair that curled against his ears. “It is wonderful to finally meet the Directing Student we’ve heard so much about. My name is Azul Ashengrotto, second year in Octivanelle. As Jade has said, I am the Dorm Head as well as the administrator of Mostro Lounge.”

Yuu shook her head in amazement. “That’s incredible, Ashengrotto-senpai. Your café is beautiful.”

Azul’s pale blue eyes narrowed shrewdly behind their lenses. “…I’ve heard about you from the Headmaster, Yuu-san,” he said, “it seems that you are in need of a place to work?”

“Yes sir,” Yuu nodded. “As I think you remember, I was brought here by mistake. However, when I tried to leave via Mirror, I was told there was no place for me to return, so I became stranded here without a penny to my name.”

“How _tragic_ ,” exclaimed Azul, not looking sad in the least. He clasped his hands in front of his unbuttoned suit jacket under the purple ribbon and revealed his teeth in a smile. “…Yet I am very interested in hearing how you managed to convince the Headmaster to keep you here as a student. Follow me, Yuu-san. Shall we start our interview?”

—

Yuu had never taken an interview in such a professional setting, but even without that handicap, there was something about Azul Ashengrotto that made her nervous.

His appearance was, unsurprisingly, just as handsome as the others she had met in this school—perfectly symmetrical features, slightly hooded eyes the colour of liquid mercury that slanted up towards his temples, a mature and rather dangerous appeal about his full mouth as he draped a lavender coat over his suit and guided her towards the back of the Lounge into a room labelled with the sparkling letters V.I.P.

Azul did not have the height Jade boasted nor the same perfect politeness the latter wore so deftly. And yet—

“Please, come in,” Azul held out a gloved hand much in the same way Jade had done when inviting her to a table.

“Thank you,” she said, entering the VIP Room ahead of him.

Yuu took in the office-styled room without the wonder with which she had examined Mostro Lounge. It was no less beautiful, especially the murals of undersea life done in stunning detail on the little patch of wall that was not smothered in bookshelves, and the glittering paint on the ceilings talked of mystery and magic—but everything inside of Yuu that had worked with dragons, hippogriffs, and all manner of chimaera were screaming at her not to be deceived.

Shown to a couch even plusher than the ones outside, though just as dark, Yuu took a seat in front of a glass table filled with seawater as Azul set aside a long black walking stick and sat down in front of her, lacing his fingers in front of his mouth and leaning both elbows on his outstretched legs.

“First of all, why don’t you tell me the reason you applied for a job here,” Azul narrowed his eyes at her shrewdly. “As a Directing Student, are you not given lodging and tuition covered by the school?”

“But that’s all that’s covered,” Yuu responded back, careful not to relax too much into the comfortable fabric. “The bare necessities. In fact, I didn’t have a school uniform until last week. No nightclothes, no tea, no extra notebooks. Additionally, the Headmaster has told me that your Mostro Lounge is currently hiring for the autumn season, so I don’t believe it’s too bad of a deal for you.”

“Ah, but you see,” Azul said lightly, “we don’t hire out of dorm too often. Although it may be true that we need help, hiring someone who will just make a mess of things is worse than not hiring someone at all. No?”

Yuu took the bait. “Why don’t you hire out of dorm?”

“Why, don’t you know?” Azul looked delighted. “Octavinelle students are without an exception Mermen. Hiring humans often puts unnecessary social strains on the Lounge, which of course no one wants. Of course, everyone who knows of NRC is aware of this already.”

So he’d been trying to expose her ignorance on the subject. Yuu felt a slight prick of irritation at the smug expression on his face, which resembled Scorpius’ rare moments of arrogance a little too much for comfort, but she knew Azul was in the superior position right now. He had too much information she didn’t.

Yuu decided she wasn’t going to hide it, especially since this Dorm Head already seemed to have an inkling of the truth. “I didn’t know anything about NRC before I got here,” she told him honestly. “You saw the mirror label me as an unknown at the opening ceremony, right? Headmaster tried to send me home afterwards, only to be met with the answer that I didn’t belong anywhere.”

“Oh?” Azul arched a silver brow, leaning forwards emphatically. “And yet, there are a number of ways one could find your hometown without relying on a mirror.”

“We tried all of them,” she played along with his charade, now completely sure he knew what she was about to say. “However, my country didn’t exist on any maps, so according to the Headmaster, I was probably sent here through dimensions or worlds.”

“My word. How unfortunate for you!” Azul looked thrilled. “I hope you understand how rare a dimension-traveller is. And one who has never heard of or used magic—it’s a wonder the Headmaster admitted you as a student.”

“Half of a student.” Yuu explained how she had partnered with Grim and how the Headmaster had labelled her as an animal tamer for some reason.

Azul blinked, leaning back in more genuine surprise. “You didn’t trick him into enrolling you?”

_I’m not you_ , she wanted to say. Yuu shook her head. “In fact, I was content being a chores boy, but Headmaster was eager enough, and I didn’t care so much.”

“Didn’t care so much, huh.” Azul considered her. Abruptly he changed topic. “Hiring out of dorm is not out of the question—in fact, one of our regular top batters is a second year from Savanaclaw. However, he is the exception, not the rule. Give me a reason I should allow a…rather vertically challenged…first year like you scramble around the hall serving customers.”

“Isn’t it better to be small if you’re a server?” Yuu responded. “So as not to get in the customer’s way. I’m not very impressive or intimidating, so others should feel comfortable talking with me. Ah, but I don’t know if there are any societal tensions between humans and merfolk.”

“That is the least of your concern,” Azul dismissed. “It’s true that a small and quick-moving staff is valued over a tall one. Yet can you say truthfully that you’re not afraid of this dorm or its residents?”

“At this point?” Yuu thought for a moment. “I’m not afraid only because I’ve met Leech-senpai and you, Ashengrotto-senpai. Just on guard. But since I don’t know anyone else in Octavinelle, it seems rather rash of me to answer you based on only two people.”

Azul nodded. “Good answer. If you had said foolishly that you weren’t afraid of me, I would have kicked you out on the spot.”

“Fear is a good thing,” Yuu shrugged. “All humans and animals have it for a reason. It’s useful.”

Azul considered her for a long moment. “…And it seems that you are not a typical human,” he murmured.

“I think I’m the most typical human around,” Yuu demurred. “A completely normal person who doesn’t stick out. Isn’t that kind of person useful in a shop like this? Whether in the kitchen or as a waiter?”

Azul was startled into a chuckle. “I’ve never had someone advertise themselves to me in that way. Isn’t it a better tactic to brag about your strong points?”

“Unfortunately, it’s not in my character to brag,” Yuu said dryly. “I suppose if I had to choose my strongest quality it would be my intelligence, but recently I’ve been getting called stupid quite a bit, so that is questionable too.”

“Entering Octavinelle all alone is an action only a fool takes,” Azul nodded. “Yet in this case I’ll attribute it to your ignorance, which in itself is a heavy minus.”

“That’s true,” Yuu nodded. “Though there are some advantages to ignorance. If I’d grown up in this world I would not be speaking to you about this dorm the same way I am right now. Right?”

“And what a curious thing it is,” Azul murmured, “that you are able to meet my eye without sweating.”

The seawater in the table below him caught his pale eyes and turned them a beautiful, sparkling blue and for a second, she thought she saw his pupils flatten out into a horizontal line.

“With all of the hinting at how frightening this place is,” Yuu arched a brow at him, not looking away, “I would appreciate it if you told me a little information you think I should know.”

“I’m interviewing _you_ , Yuu-san,” Azul gave her an amused smile, his silver-blue eyes cold.

“Isn’t it common for an interviewee to ask some questions?” she shot back, not backing down.

Azul narrowed his eyes. “…Very well,” he said at last. “Although I should charge you for the information. This time I’ll generously include it as part of the interview.”

Yuu waited as he pondered visibly over what to say. She was starting to get a feel on his character: self-interest above all else.

“Octavinelle is the dorm built on the merciful heart of the Witch of the Sea,” Azul began smoothly. “When I entered this school last year, I noticed an excellent opportunity to use…ahem. To provide a yet unseen service in the school in the form of the Mostro Lounge.”

“You _built_ this place?” Yuu raised both eyebrows in surprise. “In your first year? Did the Headmaster let you?”

“He was quite agreeable after hearing ten percent of the profits would be transferred to him,” Azul pushed the bridge of his glasses up with a gloved finger. “Mostro Lounge has been quite successful, if I do say so myself. In fact, this year, we are looking to expand to booths during school festivities and games.”

So not only had he built a successful business from the ground up in his first year of schooling, but he’d achieved the title of Dorm Head by his second year. If the rules were anything like Heartslabyul’s, this mean that his grades and demeanour were beyond reproach. An intelligent businessman.

Working under this person would not be easy.

Azul continued, “Because Octavinelle’s residents are all Mermen, we usually use potions to change form during the school year to attend classes aboveground and within the dorm. I’m assuming you don’t know about Mermen either?”

“Not at all,” Yuu answered honestly. The merfolk in wizarding Britain were notoriously unfriendly. “I’ve only read about them in storybooks.”

“A magicless world…” Azul sighed in mock pity. “When you said such a thing earlier, I could hardly believe it. It is one thing to be magicless in a world full of magic—it is quite another to live in a world bereft of it entirely. To us, it is impossible to imagine a place in which magical power does not exist.”

“Does your transforming potion wear out periodically?” Yuu asked, ignoring his postulating. She couldn’t suppress her curiosity. In effect, Azul had to be a Merman too, but he looked one hundred percent human, and Jade Leech was the same. She only knew of Gillyweed and Polyjuice that were able to change a human’s body structure without resorting to complicated transfiguration or Animagus training, and the former methods never lasted long.

She’d leaned forwards in excitement—Azul was blinking his silver-blue eyes at her in surprise. She wondered exactly what colour they were, and did they change with his mood?

“There has been much research into this particular area of transformation,” Azul explained with a polite cough, “so the possibility of one turning back into their true forms unexpectedly is close to zero. Of course, a long time without a second dose of the potion will cause its effects to wear off.”

Fascinating. “And Mermen can’t breathe aboveground at all originally?”

“It depends heavily on the species. However, the more magical power one has, the easier it is to find ways around breathing problems. Not only are merfolk strong against the cold—deep water becomes cold, much colder than you humans would think—but our physical strength outshines that of you humans’ by an order of magnitude,” Azul’s polite smile twisted up in a sarcastic tilt. “You can guess how rare it is for humans to intermingle with us. Therianthropes relate more easily, but humans are so prone to jealousy and fear…”

“I see,” Yuu nodded thoughtfully, glad he was so willing to explain. “It makes sense why there aren’t many humans in this dorm, I suppose.”

Azul paused for a long moment. He was looking at her with a funny expression on his face she couldn’t understand. “…Yuu-san, are you considered one who is good at hiding their emotions?”

“Me?” Yuu thought for a moment, confused by the non sequitur. “I think I’m about the same as the next person, I suppose. Why?”

“…No, you are truly a strange human, that’s all.” Azul frowned briefly before it was wiped away by his smile again. “In addition to being a café, Mostro Lounge also offers students a place to voice their worries or needs. Within this VIP room, we extend general consulting services for anything from searching for a lost item to studying for the next exams. For a suitable fee, of course.”

“Wow,” Yuu commented, “with all these things on your shoulder, Dorm Head, how can you keep it all up without collapsing?”

“Please. It’s merely a matter of effort, although there are days in which the sheer stupidity of the common populace and their inability to produce the needed funds that were promised beforehand truly inspire me to _teach_ them just how they should approach a business agreement,” Azul said very quickly.

Yuu had noticed before when he was talking about Mermen, but Azul was rather eloquent, to put it lightly. She wondered if he had really meant to spill all of that out about his customers just now, especially when it sounded pretty close to illegal.

She decided to let it pass by unchecked. Yuu knew how to choose her battles. “Would I help on that business as well as in the café if I were to work here?”

Azul’s eyes widened and he dropped his folded hands. “Pardon?”

“Are there any special requirements to working in this room? This er…general consulting department?” Yuu wrinkled her nose.

“Yuu-san,” Azul pasted his smile back on. “I’m rather surprised you haven’t run away from this interview in a hurry yet. Are you really that desperate for some small change?”

“That’s not it. I don’t see any demerits to working here, that’s all,” Yuu said.

Azul blinked. “…After all I described to you just now?”

“It seems reasonable enough,” Yuu shrugged. “Though if there are any customs that I should follow while among the merfolk—er, your Mermen, I’d like to know so I don’t offend them unduly.”

“…I’m beginning to see how you’ve survived this long,” Azul muttered, “though I don’t know whether to call it foolish bravery or resilience.”

It was magic that had saved her, Yuu thought, though she didn’t say it out loud. Azul Ashengrotto was the one person she didn’t want to reveal her secrets to—she was sure he would be the first to use it against her.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
> **Edited |** on October 23rd for clarity during Crowley's conversation. Again on December 31st, 2020 for grammar, better definitions, and minor details.
> 
> —
> 
> To those who guessed Crowley figured her out -- you smart cookies make me so happy! (Note how he began to call her 'dear' after the Overblot fight.)
> 
> **Question |** Does anyone have any preference over the way they would like Floyd's nicknames to be translated? For example, Kingyo-chan vs. Goldfish. I feel like the former has some more character than the latter, but will always put definitions in the end notes anyway. If you care either way, please let me know!
> 
> —
> 
> Thank you for reading as always and for your fantastic responses. Every comment, bookmark, kudo, and subscription brings a smile to my face! 
> 
> In terms of word count, we surpassed Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone at the end of last chapter 😲 Please drop a comment below and let me know what you thought about this one!
> 
> —


	7. Within Enemy Territory.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No one at NRC is friendly towards Yuu right away, but she starts to see just how bad its students can become when they deem her an eyesore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
> Happy Birthday, Trey! ♣ Your support of Heartslabyul cannot be overstated. 
> 
> —

—

October dawned on Night Raven College with a subtle browning of the grass. Warm, sunny weather still clung onto the days with the last vestiges of summer, but the apple trees in the courtyard were beginning to hang low with their harvest. Yuu had seen several clumps of students gathered below the trees on the weekend armed with baskets and ladders, and when she arrived in the cafeteria’s kitchens after school on Monday, Trey was skinning a particularly shiny red apple at one of the tables, surrounded by bowls of similar fruit.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said guiltily, setting her book bag on a chair and sliding into the seat across from him. “I had to ask Professor Crewel for clarification on some homework.”

“I’d like Ace and Deuce to take an example from you and be a little more serious about their schooling,” Trey said mildly. “Go wash your hands before you touch those, please. I just soaked them.”

“Okay.” Yuu went and rinsed her hands as Grim plodded into the kitchen, grumbling about being inside on such a nice day when he could be napping in the sun.

Trey raised his brows at the Monster as she returned to the table. “Why does Grim look like he’s in such a bad mood?”

“I told you, you can go hang out outside if you want,” she said exasperatedly as Grim hopped onto the table and sat against a bowl of apples.

“But _you’re_ not going outside,” Grim said sulkily.

“So here we are,” she explained to Trey, unable to resist petting him with her sleeve (so her hands wouldn’t get dirty again). “Isn’t he adorable?”

“Shut up! Don’t call the Great Grim adorable!”

“I see,” Trey chuckled, tossing her an apple and indicating a spare knife. “You like animals and Monsters, Transfer?”

“Yeah,” she nodded emphatically, “They’re so interesting. Back at Hogwarts my favourite subject was Care of Magical Creatures.”

“But I’m better than all of them,” Grim put in.

“You’re the only one who could talk,” Yuu rolled her eyes at him. “So yes, O Great Grim, you are better than all of them.”

Grim didn’t notice her slight sarcasm and puffed out his chest proudly. “You better give the first slice of pie to me after you’re done!”

“Sorry, Grim, I’ve already promised the first slice to transfer here,” Trey grinned down at him. “Since he’s being so nice to help me.”

“Tch. Glasses,” Grim said, as if insulting him.

“You know you could help too,” she suggested.

Grim flicked his tail at her dismissively and settled down in a patch of sunlight to nap.

—

**CHAPTER SEVEN | Within Enemy Territory.**

—

“Sorry about him,” she pointed at the lightly dozing Monster. “I swear his ability to sleep at a second’s notice is unparalleled.”

Trey laughed. “I’m sure he’s exhausted from a day’s worth of classes.”

It was times like these when Yuu was hit with just how good-natured he was. Trey never seemed to get angry—not even when Ace was needling him—only worried about Riddle or amused otherwise. That kind of maturity was tough to find anywhere, let alone in a boy’s high school.

The two of them worked at skinning apples for a few minutes until Yuu remembered she was a witch. “…Trey-senpai, um, since you guys know my secret, do you mind if I Charm the knife to speed things up a bit?”

“Hmm? You mean use your own magic?” Trey put down his perfectly skinned apple and tilted his chin at her obligingly. “Go ahead. I’ve been interested in it since you protected me with the shield back in the Rose Maze.”

Yuu slid her wand out of her uniform sleeve and flicked it at the table. Both her knife and Trey’s lifted into the air and began to peel the apples that floated towards them one by one. “Thanks.”

“That’s some really precise magic,” Trey said, looking impressed. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Magic in this world is divided into elements, so it’s completely different than magic in my world,” she explained, putting her wand away. “Like painting the roses and adding whipped cream to a tart all draws from wind magic, right?”

“The former also uses water magic,” Trey nodded, “but you’re right.”

“Our magic is sort of like the Nothing…the ‘void’ element you guys use,” she explained, watching the scarlet peels curl into spirals on the table. “It’s not about magical power or about elements. It’s just a force all by itself, so Charms like these aren’t that difficult to master.”

“To have such a deep understanding of our magic after one month here is plenty impressive,” Trey said mildly, swishing his Pen. A row of pie crusts zoomed over from behind him and arranged themselves on the table. “Would you go fetch the nutmeg, vanilla extract and cinnamon from that cupboard, transfer? I’m going to prepare these for the oven.

“Okay.” Yuu got the ingredients, pretending not to notice Grim steal an apple to chew on. Trey didn’t say anything, so she was sure he didn’t mind either.

Despite her continued wariness of the third year, Trey was so unceasingly genial and friendly that she felt bad about doubting him. She’d considered asking his friends about what they thought of Trey, but had not had the opportunity to do so.

Riddle was probably the closest thing to the vice Dorm Head’s friend that she’d seen in the dorm, but it was largely due to the atmosphere Trey created around him. Riddle trusted Trey unflinchingly—had appointed him as vice Dorm Head pretty much instantly, he’d said—and yet there was still a glass wall she felt on Trey’s end. But Yuu had been going back and forth so much she was no longer sure whether the wall was a product of her shabby imagination.

Cater, who probably knew what was going on far better than she did, had told her not to worry. And the problem was—she wasn’t. Despite some small gut feeling telling her she should be on guard, run before it was too late, Trey was so unassuming. So harmless. So helpful.

Yuu did not have enough experience navigating social situations to outmanoeuvre him.

So here she was, far less worried than she should be, making apple pies with Trey in the school kitchens for Riddle as his evening snack. As the only one of her friends without club activities, she’d volunteered to help out with the leftover apples since Ace had been whining about wanting to eat sweets lately. After the pies were ready, they were going to have an after-dinner party in Heartslabyul before bedtime.

Yuu liked Trey. It was rude to behave this way to someone who’d never wronged her and most importantly, worrying was useless. So Yuu brushed her unfounded unease off and chatted idly with him about school and her magic.

On his end, Trey was an excellent conversationalist, and he never pushed too hard. It was this part of him that reminded her so closely of Auror-Professor Harry Potter who dropped by to give lectures in Defence sometimes. They both knew when to back off, manipulating conversations and topics with an expert’s touch born, perhaps, of experience. Yuu didn’t know if she was an introvert or an extrovert, but the usual carefulness she exercised in speaking with others fell out the window when talking to Professor Potter and now, Trey Clover.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t heard your last name,” Trey commented as he started to add corn starch, nutmeg and cinnamon to a mixing bowl. “Is there a different naming system in your world?”

“What?” Yuu blinked, confused. “No, not really. It’s just that I got my last name magically struck so I don’t have one anymore.”

Trey paused for a moment. “Mind explaining what ‘magically struck’ means?”

“You guys don’t have that sort of thing?” Yuu asked. “I don’t really hear of it in the muggle—er, non-magical world—but magic manifests in words too, especially names. Names have power to them.”

“That sounds like something out of a novel,” Trey commented, stretching out a hand.

Yuu put the vanilla extract on his palm, gathering the chopped squares of peeled apple as the knives did their work beside her. She grinned, “I’ve learned to stop associating my misguided sense of reality with magic a long time ago. There are all sorts of magic dealing with words, like Vows, prophecies, and the like. Anyway, it’s possible to identify, curse or track someone with their name, so after I asked my father for permission, I got rid of mine.” It had been similar to the way a Black had gotten his entire picture struck from the family tree over fifty years ago, though Yuu was surprised at how quick the process completed after all the paperwork went through.

“Your father gave you permission, just like that?” Trey asked sceptically, whisking his forming sauce with water.

“Yeah?” Yuu shrugged. “I don’t think he particularly cared one way or another. Though he seemed kind of amused that I’d decided to do it so quickly. My father’s a reasonable person.”

“Hmm. And so you got your last name…er…magically removed?” Trey squinted. “Like removing a tooth or something.”

“Good comparison,” Yuu said with a chuckle. “I had to go to the Ministry—that’s the specifically magical government in my world, by the way—and go through a complicated procedure, but I got it removed a couple years ago. It’s a good thing, too, since a year ago, I went on a trip with a mentor to research magical creatures and nearly got targeted by one that used last names to devour humans.”

Trey blinked once, slowly. “I suppose that was a wise decision for you to make, then.”

“Sure was.” Yuu filled her first bowl of apple cubes and grabbed a second. “It’s easier for me to introduce myself, too. I can make a lot of puns with my name.”

“I didn’t take you to be the type to make jokes,” Trey raised a brow, receiving her first bowl and starting to mix in the apples with the thickening sauce.

“Actually, I’m not. Nor am I funny. One of my…friends? Acquaintances? From my school is good at them, so it’s fun to use terrible puns because they’re so bad and they make him angry.” Yuu grinned cheekily.

“Ah, sorry if I brought up an uncomfortable topic,” Trey realized, “I’m sure you don’t want to talk about your family or friends since you were blown here through worlds.”

“Hm? Why?” Yuu blinked back questioningly.

Trey’s hands stilled momentarily. “…You don’t mind?”

“Mind what?” she squinted. “I’ve already told you about magic so there’s not much left for me to hide…”

“No…Don’t worry about it.” Trey’s smile was back. “You think your family’s searching for you by now?”

“Depends. My school is a boarding school, but I disappeared out of my bedroom in my parents’ house so my mother, at least, would check the neighbourhood. Or maybe not. Though I’m pretty sure they’ve assumed I’ve gone to school by now and stopped searching.” Yuu started to gather the peels of apple and toss them in the bin.

“I’m sure they’re worried.”

Yuu was almost positive they’d forgotten her existence by now, so she hummed noncommittally. “Though I guess my professors would notice I’m not around. Some of them, anyway.”

“And your friends?”

“Sure. Though even if I say ‘friends’ we’re not that close.” Yuu said matter-of-factly. “As you can see, I’m not very, er…eye-catching. At least, not in a good way. There were always a group of people who picked on me.”

“That’s not true at all,” Trey snorted. “You might be a little small for your age, but there’s nothing about you that’s inconspicuous.”

“Really? Is it my eye colour?” Yuu touched her bangs absently. “When I was studying abroad, they said it was rare for my hair colour. But I don’t think anyone can see my eyes.”

“Not your physical appearance,” Trey demurred, setting aside the bowl of marinated apple bits and starting on his second sauce bowl, “though you remind me of some of the first-year Pomefiore students. I meant your personality.”

Personality.

“I have a personality?” Yuu blurted out.

Trey jerked backwards in surprise as she leaned in, his square-rimmed glasses sliding a couple of inches down his nose. “Whoa, transfer!”

“Whoops. Sorry.” She winced, glancing down at Grim, who had turned around in his sleep at her outburst.

Instead of admonishing her, Trey put down his bowl and burst into snickers. It was the same kind of laugh that had surprised her so much back during their marron tart baking episode—one side of the mouth curled up to reveal white teeth and a slight narrowing of those ochre eyes, just enough to make her uneasy. Yuu chastised herself again. She was being paranoid. Probably. And even if she wasn’t, it didn’t really matter.

“Ahh, you really are so unexpected.” Trey pressed his glasses back up his nose with an un-gloved finger, seeming inordinately amused. “Yeah, you have a personality, obviously!”

“I mean, I’ve been called the opposite pretty often,” Yuu was still staring at him in surprise. “Like boring, flat, plain, unimpressive. So I always thought I was born without a personality.”

“No one’s born without a personality,” Trey narrowed his eyes at her in a smile. “And yours is especially obvious.”

“Then describe it to me,” Yuu said. “…Please. Senpai.”

“Seriously, you never stop surprising people. But I don’t know you very well, do I?” Trey pointed out.

“You’re good at reading people,” she shrugged, “and you’re on the top five list for people who know me well anyway. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to though.”

“Good at reading people, huh,” Trey said thoughtfully. “I think the same could be said about you.”

“Really? Not as good as you. Plus, the only reason I might not be terrible at it is because Japan—where my mother’s from—sort of specializes in reading between the lines.”

Trey showed his teeth at her. “Are you trying to get me to answer your question by flattering me?”

She hadn’t been. Yuu arched a brow. “Is it working?”

“How about you help me load these crusts with the apples and then we’ll see,” Trey challenged.

“Okay,” she reached for a bowl. But Yuu frowned and paused. “Wait a second. Aren’t we supposed to chill the mix first? At least that’s how I learned to make an apple pie.”

Trey raised a brow. “I’ve thought so before, transfer, but you know how to cook?”

“Yeah. I’ve been doing it for pretty much my whole life anyway.” Yuu smiled. “It’s sort of like Potions…er, what you guys call alchemy here. Always interesting to figure out different combinations.”

“I think we’re going to get along just fine,” Trey laughed, “since I’m in the Science Club where we do those things all the time. To answer your question, there’s a trick we use back at the shop to soften apples quickly with magic, so go ahead and load those crusts.”

“Okay.” Yuu started to dollop the unexpectedly warm marinade into an open crust. It had to have been magically heated.

The two of them fell into an easy silence for a few minutes before Trey hummed. “I guess the way I’d describe your personality as…straightforward, for better or for worse.”

“Straightforward?” This was the last thing she’d been expecting. “Um, Trey-senpai, I’m not a good person or anything.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Trey waved his hands. “And being a straightforward person doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a good person—or that you don’t lie. But transfer, you live forwards. Most people live looking back, hiding something, fearing something.”

“I’m not brave or future-thinking either,” Yuu protested, wondering if Trey was trying to flatter _her_.

“It’s rather tough to describe your particular personality with words,” he gave her a troubled smile. “I don’t think there are many people like you, though. Especially not here at NRC.”

“Really?” Yuu wrinkled her nose. “I find that hard to believe.”

“I think that’s the part of you,” Trey said thoughtfully.

“The part of me…?”

Trey smiled at her. “Anyway, apart from your complete indifference about yourself, I think that what makes your personality so unique is your quickness from thought to action. Not that you’re stupid—far from it—but you think about something and then do it.”

“Like…everyone else.” Yuu deadpanned.

“Not like everyone else,” he contested her. “For example, in the case where Riddle Overblotted. You decided you’d fight him and then you did—even though it broke your laws.”

“I did debate over that decision for a while,” she protested. “I’m not the kind of person you’re making me out to be.”

“That’s what you think,” Trey continued, taking her filled crust from her and beginning to layer the top with crisscrossed dough. “The straightforward bit is when you cut your losses without flinching, transfer. When you land in a world not your own, most people worry endlessly about their home and friends. Not you.”

“I’ve been told it’s because I have the emotional range of a thimble,” Yuu said dryly, starting on her second pie crust.

“I don’t know about that, but you’re actively looking for a way home anyway, right?” Trey asked rhetorically. “You go to the library daily. You don’t try to make connections here to stay. There’s something very…clean and quick about your thought-to-action pathway.”

“I’ve never had someone describe me like that,” Yuu mused, “I don’t quite know how to feel about it.”

“I find it more surprising that you haven’t had anyone say this to you before,” Trey considered her through his lenses carefully.

“Why would they? People don’t usually hang around me.”

“…Well, it’s their loss,” Trey shrugged. The easy smile came back. “If you transfer over to Heartslabyul, we’ll hang around you all the time, you know.”

“Are we still talking about that?” Yuu grinned back. “I don’t know what ideas Ace and Deuce put into your head, but I’m staying in Ramshackle.”

“Come on. Don’t you want to live around us?” Trey teased.

“That’s not it.” Mostly, she was reluctant to be found out as a girl. “Ramshackle’s grown on me, you know.”

“They’re ruins,” Trey told her, unimpressed.

“I happen to like ruins.”

Trey sighed. “Honestly, you’re a mature guy and I’m not trying to get you to move dorms, it’s just Riddle…”

“Dorm Head?” she repeated.

Trey gave her a wry look. “I mean, you did sort of save his life and everything, but he likes you a lot, you know.”

“He said I was, er, interesting…” Yuu furrowed her brows. “But that doesn’t mean he likes me. It’s probably the unusualness of someone magicless.”

“That’s _absolutely_ not the case,” Trey said dryly. “Call him what you want—Riddle is an excellent judge of character and he doesn’t take interest in others easily. In a way, you’re pretty lucky to have caught his eye, you know.”

Yuu wrinkled her nose. “I don’t get it.”

“That’s okay.” Trey crinkled his eyes and reached forward to wipe a smudge of cinnamon sauce off her cheek where it had splashed. “But Riddle already considers you one of his own…one of the Heartslabyul students, anyway, so he’s probably not going to give up soon.”

“Aren’t you the closest thing he has to a childhood friend?” she asked him plaintively. “Can’t you nudge him in the other direction?”

“And why would I do that?” Trey lifted one dark green brow.

Right. No good people in NRC.

“Then what about Che’nya-san? Do you know where to find him?”

“Che’nya?” Trey blinked in surprise.

“He seemed cooperative enough.” Yuu squinted as she started on the third pie. “Maybe he can try convincing Rosehearts-senpai.”

“Ah…Che’nya’s actually not a student here,” Trey said awkwardly. “He’s probably not on campus grounds. Usually he comes visiting us once in a while, but…”

“Not a student here?” she repeated, blinking. “You can get in this school without being a student?”

“Che’nya’s a special case.” Trey winced a bit. “You’re not supposed to be able to wander in, but like Riddle, he managed to develop his Unique Magic—which lets him disappear and appear at will—years ago and keeps messing with everyone. Fortunately, he’s the kind of person who stops at teasing, so there’s usually no harm done…Anyway, Che’nya’s a student from a school called Royal Sword Academy.”

Yuu remembered the smile hovering in the air before Che’nya faded from existence. “For a private school, NRC sure lets a lot of strangers in. Like me.”

“I can’t deny it,” he laughed. “Anyway, it’s easier to give up early if Riddle’s got his sights set on you. That guy looks small and pretty, but he’s got a bit of a difficult personality.”

“I noticed,” she said weakly. It still sent shivers down her spine when she recalled those darkened grey eyes as Riddle smiled at her the morning after his Overblot. Even without the huge monster behind him, Heartslabyul’s Dorm Head was scary.

Trey took her third filled pie, considering her. “…Do you really want me to tell him to stop?”

“Huh?” Yuu blinked in surprise. “Of course not, I was just kidding before. If I was going to deny him to his face, I’d do it myself.”

“Ah.” Trey shook his head, looking a little relieved. “I should have expected that.”

“But for some reason…” Yuu hesitated. “I don’t know. For some reason I…I can’t bring myself to say no flat-out when I look him in the eyes. Rosehearts-senpai might think me interesting, but I think I quite like him as a person too.”

“The feeling’s mutual,” Trey said warmly. “You’re welcome any time, you know.”

Yuu started shovelling pie filling into the fourth crust, not trusting her mouth not to betray her again. She hadn’t meant to say that much.

Never too intrusive, but just friendly enough for her to be exposed to the illusion that he was interested in her as a person—the ambiance surrounding Trey Clover was far too comfortable. Unlike Scarabia’s Dorm Head Kalim, who was a great big sun, Trey was the pleasant breeze on a warm afternoon.

She knew she was being paranoid, but he put her in a place of safety she hated and loved; Yuu vacillated between relaxation and full-out caution around this person so heavily she was starting to get dizzy. No matter how she scolded herself, she was getting the creeping feeling that the most dangerous person in this school was not Riddle Rosehearts, not Leona-senpai, nor Azul Ashengrotto, but the pleasantly smiling young man sliding pies into the oven before her.

—

“Go on without me,” Ace groaned, forehead pressed to the wood table of the desk in front of him. “I’m done for.”

Yuu gasped, clutching at his shoulder. “Ace! Don’t say that! We’ll still make it out of this together…”

“Yuu…” Ace choked. “…Tell my mother…”

“Mother…?”

“That he’s a miserable excuse of a human being who can’t even finish a single homework assignment,” Deuce deadpanned from her other side.

Ace tilted his head to the side with a thump, scowling up at the person he refused to admit was his friend. “Who’s the moron who _did_ the assignment and still ended up with a zero?”

“At least I put in the effort. I just used the wrong column to fill my multiple-choice answers.”

“Really?” Yuu gaped at him. “I’ve never seen someone do that in real life.”

“Putting in effort and still getting a zero is _lame_ ,” Ace sniffed, “At least _I_ spent my time in a meaningful manner.”

“On your phone?” Grim put in.

“Oh right,” Ace lifted his head and pulled them in conspiratorially. “Guys, there’s another Unbirthday party this weekend. You’re all coming, right?”

“Wait a sec, Trey-senpai told me that those are actually supposed to be for Heartslabyul dorm students only,” Yuu hurried to put in.

“What are you talking about?” Deuce gave her a weird look. “You’re one of us already.”

“Deuce!? Not you too!”

“I happen to like the big bed we have at Ramshackle,” Grim frowned.

Ace smirked at him. “But if you come to ours you get Trey-senpai’s sweets every week.”

Grim gasped, eyes shining. “Maybe we should move dorms, Yuu.”

“Stoppit, you poser.” Yuu smacked Ace in the shoulder. “Don’t tease Grim like that, he’ll believe you.”

“I’ll stop it if you come to the party,” Ace said unrepentantly. “Anyway, I was thinking of disguising the tea as Coxa-Cola and flinging a pack of Mxntos into it just as Dorm Head starts pouring. I saw a real hilarious video about it last night and can’t stop imagining the contents exploding in his face. What’d you guys think?”

“…Do you perhaps have suicidal tendencies?” Yuu asked him carefully.

“What the heck are Mxntos?” Grim squinted.

“I never knew Ace was a hardcore M.” Deuce grinned wickedly. “Let’s do it.”

“You two are both beyond hope, and I refuse to be a part of this debauchery,” Yuu monotoned.

“Hey, what the heck are Mxntos?”

“Aw, come on, Yuu!” Ace flung an arm around her.

“Yeah, we’re buddies, aren’t we?” Deuce flung his arm around her other shoulder.

“You guys are heavy! Gerroff me!”

“Not until you say yes,” Ace sing-songed, leaning most of his body weight on her so that she almost tipped over.

“Yuu’s shoulders are so thin,” Deuce commented, supporting her from the other side. “You should eat more.”

Yuu was contemplating giving both of them painful Tasers in the sides before Lucius’ low meow made the three of them look forward. Professor Trein had turned in their direction as the class dispersed instead of leaving like usual.

“What did you do?” she whispered at them.

“You mean what _didn’t_ I do?” Ace retaliated.

“Mister Trappola, Mister Grim and Mister Spade,” Trein said slowly. “Stay behind for a few minutes. Mister Yuu, you may be dismissed.”

“Grim!?” Yuu swung to her partner.

Grim let out a squawk, firmly not looking in her direction. “I know nothing!”

So Yuu bade a farewell to her rather listless friends and partner, saying her greetings to Professor Trein and Lucius before heading out alone in the crowded after-school exterior hallway. It was in times like these that she appreciated her tendency to do her homework diligently. Though she was by no means condemning of Ace’s and Deuce’s energy and drive to have fun, Yuu was the one with free time now instead of being held back.

Along the route out the front doors and down the long winding staircase towards Main Street, she heard jeers directed at her and was nearly run over by a crowd of students wearing Scarabia’s crest. Yuu, who was pretty sure the elbow jabbing into her side painfully had been on purpose, allowed them to manhandle her briefly before she ducked out of the malicious crowd and broke into NRC’s field. She squinted in the pale warm light of October afternoon and wondered how the gardens fared during changes in season, rubbing at her sore shoulders and sides.

Having finished a stack of books about the founding and maintenance of the Heartslabyul dorm—and thereafter not being able to find any books on dimensional travel—Yuu had been a little bored recently. Today was a free day in which she didn’t have the warmth of Grim around her neck or the solid presence of Ace and Deuce pressing on either side of her. Instead of heading to the library alone, she wandered through the fields towards the garden on a whim, sucking in the fresh air to try and distract herself from the solitude that suddenly yawned before her.

Yuu wondered absently if she might suffer a mental breakdown if she let herself think. All of the laws she was breaking by being here. All of the connections that she was making in this place. And Riddle’s face screwed up with the Dark blazing so brilliantly in his red eye.

When Yuu was alone, she tended to think too much in the wrong direction.

The interior botanical gardens hadn’t changed a bit from her last visit two weeks ago. Tropical quiet settled over her like a heavy blanket as the doors closed behind her, but Yuu was busy looking around at the colourful plants that sprawled all over the walkways.

Good enough for a distraction, she decided, and plunged into a copse of trees.

Perhaps around a quarter of an hour later, Yuu’s ears picked up low murmurs coming from behind a row of tall flowering bushes. She had been examining what looked like an orange Venus flytrap and wondering if there were any insects or small creatures in here for it to eat. She had yet to see any animals in this school bar Grim (who was questionably not an ‘animal’), but the cafeteria served meat almost daily for lunch… And Ace had shown her some adorable animal videos recently.

“…worry.”

“Hmph. I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“You really think _I’d_ leave any evidence behind?”

Curiously, Yuu left the plant alone and headed in the direction of the voices. Was the elusive keeper of this garden finally here today? Maybe she could ask them some questions…

Yuu brushed aside a fern and came nearly face-to-face with Ruggie Bucchi.

Ruggie’s large blue-grey eyes reflected her startled reflection. He recovered first and took half a step back. “…Yuu-kun? What’re you doing here?”

“Good afternoon Ruggie-senpai.” Yuu said with a blink, backing out reflexively. “I was taking a walk in the gardens. What about you?”

“Oi, Ruggie,” Leona’s voice echoed over from somewhere behind him, “Is that the herbivore? Drag him back here for me.”

Ruggie sighed, the easiness fading from his expression. “Sorry, kid. I’m gonna have to have you come with me.”

—

Yuu sat _seiza_ in front of Leona, who was lying lazily like a magazine model against the trunk of a tree, and Ruggie, who had crossed his legs and was staring at her unsmilingly. She had no idea why there was tension strung so tightly in the air, but looking at Ruggie’s emotionless face, Yuu was wondering if she had made a mistake.

“Am I not allowed in here?” she asked slowly.

Leona yawned into a glove, none of the seriousness of Ruggie’s present in his indolent expression. “Oi, herbivore. How long were you listening?”

“Listening?” she repeated. Yuu remembered the murmurs and frowned. “So you guys were talking about something you didn’t want me to hear?”

“It’s better for you not to pretend you weren’t,” Ruggie advised, revealing one sharp canine. “For your own safety.”

“You guys can tell if I’m lying, can’t you?” she wrinkled a brow at him. “Do the whole smelling test to see, then. I was just taking a walk when I heard murmurs. I have no idea what you guys were talking about.”

Ruggie gave her an extremely strange look that could only be described as ‘weirded out’. “…Leona-san. Is this kid sane?”

Leona cast her an unimpressed scowl. “You fool. Don’t let a Therianthrope sniff you so easily.”

“Huh? Why not?” Yuu frowned. “You can smell me normally, can’t you? Plus you’ve done it before.”

“He doesn’t have any of the common sense used in this world, so you can just ignore him,” Leona told Ruggie lazily.

“Common sense? Is it not normal for you guys to smell other people?”

“Not like…not straight-up sniffing!” Ruggie spluttered. “It’s rude! And humans are already at a disadvantage. Why would you let someone like us remember your scent? Are you an idiot?”

“But he already did it.” She pointed at Leona.

“Don’t _point_ at Leona-san! Are you trying to get yourself killed!?” Ruggie clutched at his honey-brown hair, huge ears standing up straight. “He’s different!”

Leona sighed and sat up in irritation as Yuu eyed Ruggie strangely. “Ruggie. Ignore the kid. He’s as ignorant as a new-born baby.”

“You’re just going to _let him!?_ ”

The third year revealed his sharp teeth in a grin. “When it comes to this level of stupidity, he stops being stupid and starts being funny.”

“Making fun of me again,” she sighed, rolling her eyes.

Ruggie shook his head at her in amazement. “Is your spine made out of iron? I’ve never heard anyone talk like that to Leona-senpai and not be ground to dust.”

Yuu thought that he must be exaggerating—even when she’d visited Savanaclaw before, Leona was rather rude, but never made a move to hurt those people who’d tried to punch her. Still, she had met Leona a total of three times now, and unlike her, Ruggie seemed to share a real bond with him.

“Ruggie-senpai, have you been friends with Leona-senpai for long?”

“Friends—” Ruggie choked and immediately burst out laughing.

Leona’s ear closest to him went flat. “Stop yapping, you’re so loud,” he grumbled, turning around and flopping onto his side with a yawn. He appeared to have lost interest in the conversation. She was reasonably confident that he, at least, believed her to be innocent of listening in—Leona’s sense of smell seemed stronger than even Ruggie’s.

Yuu absently wondered how much of him was feline and how much of him was human. Or if he really was a fusion of the two. Therianthropes were so interesting; perhaps if asked a few questions, he would answer…

Ruggie slapped at the grass, wheezing. “…It’s been a long time…since I’ve laughed this hard,” he managed, wiping tears from the corner of his large eyes. “Yuu-kun. Let me correct you on one thing.”

Yuu broke out of her seiza—her feet were starting to get numb—and pulled her knees up to her chest, cocking her head obligingly.

“Leona-san and I aren’t something as disgusting as _friends_ ,” Ruggie narrowed those blue-grey eyes and bared a full mouth of sharpened teeth at her. “You’d do well to watch your words in our territory, cub. They might turn around and bite you in the ass.”

“So then why did you make food for him and stuff then?” she inquired confusedly. “Do Therianthropes have a different perception of friendship? Or did you lose a bet or something?”

“As if I’d do all that for free.” Ruggie rolled his eyes, appearing to have given up his intimidating glare. “It’s none of your business, cub.”

“I’m _fifteen_ ,” Yuu felt the need to point out.

“Seriously, I’ve never seen someone who’s so…” Ruggie waved his large, bony hand in the air, searching for words. “So…different from normal humans. It’s like you lack the common sense everyone else has.”

Leona’s tail swished slowly, but he remained silent, turned away from them.

Yuu was a little touched. Leona could have told Ruggie about her—her gender, her history, the world she came from—but he hadn’t. Even though they’d barely met. Either he really valued women, or he was just a good guy.

“Anyway, we’re not done. What did you hear?” Ruggie leaned in menacingly.

“Nothing,” she repeated.

“If you don’t spit it out,” he threatened, “I might have to take drastic measures.”

“If you thought about it, Leona-senpai would have probably done something to me already if he’d smelled a lie on me,” Yuu pointed out. “Plus, don’t hyenas have a really good sense of smell, too?”

“…There are plenty of ways to mask a scent,” Ruggie was unmoved, “and Leona-san’s just asleep.”

“Huh!? Already?” She whipped around and stared at the upperclassman stretched out prone on the grass floor. Indeed, his breathing was even and slow.

“That guy sleeps anywhere and everywhere.” Ruggie rolled his eyes. “Alright, I’ll let you off for now, but if I hear you blabbing about what you heard anywhere, a broken bone will be the least of your worries.”

“Broken bone…” she echoed. “Okay. Since I didn’t hear anything, it doesn’t really matter. Still, you know you guys shouldn’t be talking in a place like this where anyone could hear you.”

“No one comes in here,” Ruggie shrugged, “and we aren’t afraid of anyone who would.”

Yuu watched him crack his knuckles with interest. “Your hands are normal.”

“Huh?”

“I thought they would be clawed or something. Like Leona-senpai’s.”

Ruggie gave her a weird look. “Stop staring at me. I’m gonna charge you money.”

“Sorry, don’t have any,” Yuu said cheerfully. “Your hands have nails that look just like mine, though.”

“Obviously. We all do. And Leona-san was just too lazy to cut his nails a while ago.” Ruggie glanced over at the (apparently) sleeping Leona and muttered, “That guy seriously needs to stop making me do everything.”

Yuu examined him quietly. Ruggie had seemed a lot brighter before, back in the Savanaclaw dorm full of students. Perhaps some of it was because he was wearing the calmer colours of the school uniform, whose dark blazer looked slightly too big for his bony shoulders, but there was also an edge of exhaustion gathered at the end of his sigh. The wide triangular ears poking out of the side of his fluffy hair turned so they faced backwards, flattening slightly into his head.

“Hold on a second,” she said, shedding her book bag and reaching inside. “Here, have this.”

The past few days had seen a drastic upshoot in the amount of time Yuu spent in the school kitchens. The pies she and Trey had baked together had caused a sensation a few days ago, and Yuu rather liked hanging out with him, so she’d been baking everything from tarts to pies to macarons with the third year. As thanks, Trey sent her off after tea each day with a container full of leftovers, which she reserved for Grim when he was hungry and herself when she was flagging from lack of brain glucose.

Sugar was the best remedy for a tired body (other than rest), though it had the side effect of weight gain. Yuu was used to burning the midnight oil—literally—at the back of Hogwarts library’s Restricted Section, sucking on Sugar Quills or Chocolate Frogs to stave off her sleepiness, and it wasn’t like she ate much anyway. But right now, the one who seemed most in need of a pick-me-up was the hyena Therianthrope sitting across from her.

Yuu pulled out one of the leftover slices of lemon cobbler from last night’s teatime out of the plastic container, laid it on the lid with a fork, and offered it to Ruggie.

The hyena Therianthrope blinked in confusion before comparing her and the slice of cobbler. “You’re giving this to me?”

“You looked tired,” Yuu shrugged, “so I figured you’d need this more than me. I swear it tastes good.”

“…I don’t get you,” Ruggie said slowly. “I just threatened you, cub. What, are you trying to poison me or something?”

“ _Poison_!?” she spluttered. “What kind of world do you guys live in? Also! Where the heck would I get poison from!”

“Please. Everyone knows how easy it is to brew up poison from alchemy classes,” Ruggie scoffed.

“Directing Student,” Yuu pointed at herself. “Knows _nothing_.”

“Is what it looks like, at least.” Ruggie lifted his lip in a sneer, none of the friendliness from the other day visible from the disdain in his eyes. “I hope you know that no one in this school’s stupid enough to trust an anomaly like you.”

“I don’t expect anyone to trust me.” Yuu said patiently, “and was the tart I offered last time poisoned? Leona-senpai would be out for the count, wouldn’t he?”

Ruggie snorted. “Leona-san’s been brought up resistant to a whole host of poisons, unlike me.”

What the hell was ‘brought up resistant to poisons’ supposed to mean? Yuu decided she wasn’t brave enough to poke that hive of bees. “…He didn’t share a slice with you?” she tried instead. “It was totally fine, wasn’t it?”

The hyena Therianthrope fell silent briefly. “…I don’t need your fake charity, poison or not,” he said after a moment.

“Then why don’t you think of it as a repayment for that really good pineapple drink you made when I visited Savanaclaw Lounge,” she suggested. “That way, I’m the one who owes you.”

“You were Leona-san’s _guest_ , and I’ve already received my reward from that,” Ruggie snapped.

By this point, it was obvious even to Yuu that Ruggie held no positive feelings for her—not really, though he’d been friendly enough in front of Leona during her visit. Yuu supposed that it couldn’t be helped. She’d been largely ignored at Hogwarts and at home, but ever since her entrance into the Night Raven College, encounters with people who hated her had become commonplace. There was real animosity in the dark eyes of the students glaring her way, far outpacing the petty spite that her bullies had worn in their sneers. People here _hated_ her.

Like the Heartslabyul upperclassmen who’d bumped into her hard enough to break the eggs she was holding. The Savanaclaw residents who’d nearly punched her lights out for standing in the entrance to their dorm. The multitude of students who checked her into walls when she walked alone down the hallway.

It was an interesting change. Yuu—the least visible student—had become Yuu, the most visible student. Even if it was in a negative way, there was a strange sense of vertigo at being noticed.

“Okay,” Yuu said, unbothered by the hostility laid bare before her in his expression. She put the cobbler slice back in the container, sealed the lid, and laid the plastic box between them. “I’ll leave this here then. You can take it if you want. If you don’t want it, you can throw it out.”

Ruggie eyed it briefly. “…And why would you be so revoltingly _nice_?” he queried after a moment.

There was the same derogatory tone Ace and Deuce had used when they’d called her ‘nice’. She’d recalled once some kid named Zabini calling her the same thing when she’d sent Scorpius back to his Common Room one day. _Disgustingly nice._

It seemed Yuu still had much to learn about this world. But she had to clarify something. “I’m not being nice,” she said.

“So the reason you’re giving me food for free is?” Ruggie challenged.

“Because you look like you need it.” Yuu answered. “It’s simple logic. I don’t need food right now. But you’re tired. Sugar is effective in hiding the tiredness for a while.”

“And?”

“And if it gives you pause in breaking my bones or other such injuries, then all the better,” Yuu grinned at him.

Ruggie barked out a laugh before he rubbed his forehead. “…Do I really look that tired?”

“Just a bit,” she shrugged. “Working too hard doesn’t lead to effective progress, so I’d take a break if I were you.”

Ruggie gave her an exceptionally wicked smile. “But you see, the whole world revolves around risk and reward,” he lowered his voice as if telling a secret. “So if I get something good in return, then I don’t mind overdoing it a little.”

—

Behind the huge wooden desk, Crowley laced his metal-tipped gloved hands under his chin, regarding the four of them behind his mask. “Do you know why I’ve called the four of you here today?”

Grim flicked his tail out impatiently, whipping her in the shoulder. “Hurry up and get it over with! Today was supposed to be the one day I got temporarily released from that remedial class hell.”

“Language, Mister Grim.” Crowley said placidly. “And that was no one’s fault but your own.”

“ _Funaaa_ …” Grim’s ears drooped.

“Is it about our grades, maybe?” Ace picked at his nails, looking innocent.

“It’s true that classes have been hard for me recently,” Deuce said politely, sitting ramrod straight in his chair. “But the remedial lessons have been helpful, sir.”

“Says the guy who got three problems wrong in a row,” Ace needled him.

“You’re the one who didn’t do his homework!”

Yuu wondered if these three had learned anything from being held back after school every day. Then she wondered if she’d been called here because of her own grades. Crewel had praised her work this afternoon, but she didn’t usually hear from Trein concerning her essays. The stern instructor never smiled and never said anything to her, though he was unfailingly acerbic towards Ace who tended to slack off.

“Thanks to those stupid lessons I can’t even sit on Yuu’s shoulder,” Grim grumbled under his breath, “and he always comes back smelling like animal…I don’t like it, it makes my hair stand on end.”

Yuu sniffed her sleeve surreptitiously, but only smelled the detergent she’d dug out from the closet to wash her uniform. Perhaps Grim was smelling Ruggie and Leona’s scents? She hadn’t come very close to either of them, though hanging around the gardens this week may have been the reason for his complaints.

Her partner seemed to be in a foul mood today. He’d been sullen all the way here and much less gregarious than usual.

“What’s up with him?” she muttered over to Ace.

“He traded the Deluxe Minced Cutlet Sandwich he wanted to eat for lunch today with some stranger,” Ace rolled his eyes. “If he wanted it that much, why the hell did he trade it?”

Yuu, who had stayed back at lunch due to her abysmal performance in today’s physical education class, enduring Vargas’ enthusiastic lecturing, hadn’t gotten a chance to eat anything. She patted Grim consolingly on the head. Sometimes Grim just did things without thinking (though she thought it was adorable).

“A _hem_.”

The four of them looked up at Crowley. Yuu decided it was better to ask. “Sorry, sir. Why did we get called here?”

“It’s been around a week since the incident at Heartslabyul has resolved,” Crowley sighed, rubbing the beak of his crow mask. “Grades aside, there are some things the four of you should know concerning Overblots as parties involved in the debacle.”

“You mean that berserker mode Dorm Head went into?” Ace perked up, interest caught.

“That’s correct.”

“I mean, I sorta heard a little about it from my big bro, but always thought it was an urban legend,” Ace rubbed the back of his head.

“What’s a ‘blot’ anyway?” Grim raised a paw.

“Yes, I thought that Yuu-kun and Mister Grim would have this question.” Crowley spread his hands and smiled. “Therefore, welcome to Headmaster Crowley’s special after-school lesson, where I am kind enough to answer your questions!”

The four of them stared at him, unimpressed.

Crowley coughed and dropped the theatrics. “‘Blot’ is the waste matter that is always generated with the use of magical power,” he explained.

“Waste matter!?” Yuu blurted out. “Your magic generates _waste matter_?”

“It would seem that yours does not,” Crowley sighed. “How unfortunate for us!”

“It’s the same as a Magical Wh—a motorbike,” Deuce explained to her. “You use up gas, you get the black smoke.”

Yuu made a face. She was glad she wasn’t a magician in this world. “So what does Blot do?”

“There has been much research done in this field up until the present day, although the existence of Blot is shrouded in mystery.” Crowley sighed. “The one thing that has been proven is its lethality. Blot is poisonous to the body and an abundance of it can be life-threatening.”

“Come to think of it, a long time ago my grandma used to lecture me about Blot,” Ace recalled. He imitated an old lady’s voice, shaking an imaginary cane. “ _Don’t use magic so lightly! Do you want a build-up of Blot in your body!?_ ”

Deuce and Yuu trembled with the effort of suppressing laughter at his terrible impression as Crowley continued. “Power comes with danger,” he said, ignoring them. “Even powerful magicians cannot use magic inexhaustibly.”

“Wait, then the more magic we use, the unhealthier we get!?” Grim yelped.

Crowley shook his head. “Not necessarily. …Hmm. In this case, I suppose it is easier to show you an example instead of talking through it.”

“I’m getting a bad feeling about this,” Yuu muttered.

“What a coincidence,” Deuce snorted. “So am I.”

“Oh, Gho~osts!” Crowley called out, clasping his hands together. “It’s time for you to do your jobs!”

—

“I’m starting to wonder what the role of these Ghosts are,” Yuu muttered as she watched the cheerfully waving figures fade through the walls. “They work in the kitchens, they give advice, they pop out of my mirrors, they respond to the Headmaster…”

“They fight us,” Grim wheezed.

“Plot devices?” Ace suggested, breathing lightly.

Deuce lowered his Pen and squinted at his friend. “What?”

“He’s just breaking the fourth wall,” her partner hopped back up onto her shoulder and licked his paw a few times disinterestedly.

“Shush, not the time,” Yuu rolled her eyes at him. “So what was the point in suddenly making them fight these guys, Headmaster?”

“It’s simple.” Crowley smiled at them beatifically. “Please take a look at your magical stones, those of you who have one.”

Yuu peered down at Grim’s collar. “You mean this dirt he’s got on his stone?” she rubbed at it. “…Wait, it’s not coming off.”

“That dark stain inside your magical stone is the Blot generated by your magic,” explained Crowley, steepling his fingers under his chin as the three of them sat back down.

Deuce squinted down at his own red stone and gasped. “Mine’s got some on it too!”

“Ugh…” Grim wrinkled his nose. “That’s kinda gross.”

“Come to think of it, Rosehearts-senpai’s Pen was completely dark back when we duelled,” she recalled. “There is a way to get rid of that dirt, though, right? His Pen is red right now.”

“Good eye, Yuu-kun,” Crowley nodded at her.

“This kid,” Ace ruffled her hair fondly.

“With enough rest, Blot disappears from the magic stone over time,” Crowley explained. “Magic stones not only aid with the physical manifestation of magic, they also prevent the accumulation of Blot within a magician’s body directly by absorbing it into themselves.”

“No wonder the chandelier cost a hundred million Madols,” Yuu muttered.

“Guh. Don’t remind me,” Grim emitted.

“It’s quite an amazing item,” Crowley beamed at her. “To act as a substitute for its user.”

“So what you’re saying is, if you see your pen getting cloudy, you should rest,” Deuce summarized.

“Correct. Eat well, sleep well, and Blot should disappear in a jiffy,” Crowley nodded.

“Then there’s nothing to worry about!” Grim puffed up his chest. “Once I become a super magician, I can hurl huge spells left, right and centre!”

“Obviously not,” Yuu said dryly, “or else we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I’m guessing that over-filling the magic stone causes problems. Right?”

“But I eat well and sleep well,” Grim protested.

“The amount of magical _power_ one holds varies wildly depending on the person,” Crowley said, “but the amount of Blot one person can hold does not vary much at all…with a few exceptions.”

“What?” Grim said dumbly.

“He means that even if you’re a super magician with a ton of magical power, you have the same Blot resistance as any average Joe,” Yuu explained, used to helping him through his homework. “Which means that you have to be careful using big spells so you don’t overload your stone. Blot gathered in the stone is still close to your body even if it isn’t in you. Right?”

“As expected of Yuu-kun.” Crowley nodded. “Magical geniuses like Mister Rosehearts have to act in a most careful way with the way they use their magical power.”

“Just ‘cause you got a lot of magic doesn’t mean you can just fling spells around,” Ace shrugged, “’cause your Blot will build up faster than ever.”

“Well, considering the pitiful amount of magical power you have, I’m sure the three of you don’t have to worry much about that,” Crowley shrugged. “Aren’t you glad?”

Ace’s eye twitched. “Not at all. Sir.”

“Wait, so if we use too much magic and our stones get all black then we go berserk like Riddle did a while ago?” Grim grimaced. “And that huge thing pops up behind us?”

Crowley’s smile faded. “…The amount of Blot that gathers as a result of a spell is largely dependent on the mental state of the magic user,” he said solemnly. “Rage…grief…terror…chaos and confusion…negative emotions like these carried within a body causes Blot to gather unbelievably quickly and bring about an Overblot more easily.”

“Negative energy,” Deuce repeated. “So Ace punching Riddle made him Overblot.”

Yuu and Grim started snickering as Ace spluttered. “It wasn’t _all_ me!”

“The giant shadow that appeared behind Mister Roseheart’s rampaging form is said to be the fusion of the gathered Blot and the tangible negative energy within him,” Crowley explained, “but there is little known about it.”

Just how driven into a corner had Riddle been? Yuu remembered the huge ink Queen behind him and clenched her fingers into fists.

Ace frowned. “We fought something like that in the Mines on Mount Dwarf, but there wasn’t a single person in there.”

“Come to think of it,” Deuce recalled. “What was that, then?”

“There is truly little known about Overblots,” Crowley shook his head regretfully. “Especially since the historical occurrences of them are very rare.”

“In a way, Riddle’s pretty amazing,” Grim quipped, “I don’t think normal people can get that crazy.”

“At least call him senpai,” she muttered. “And being trapped by your emotions probably isn’t a good thing.”

“As if I’d stand there being more than a few occurrences,” Ace crossed his arms angrily. “There’s no way I ever want to see anything like that ever again!”

“Thanks to Yuu-kun’s timely intervention, Mister Rosehearts was able to be returned to sanity quickly,” Crowley sighed, “but if we had been too slow…”

“Too slow…?” the four of them chorused.

Crowley abruptly buried his head in his hands. “ _Ahhhh_! I don’t want to think about it! It’s too scary!!” he yelled out.

Yuu leapt a foot in the air and clutched Grim to her chest in fright. “I wish he’d stop doing that!”

Ace and Deuce both started shaking with laughter, so she socked them both lightly in the shoulder. Everyone in this school enjoyed laughing at her misery…

The headmaster cleared his throat. “Excuse me. I lost my composure for a moment. In any case, please remember that the use of magic always comes with a risk. Do not forget this, children.”

“I’m pretty lucky I’m not from this world,” Yuu commented. “Having to watch your Blot levels all the time sounds exhausting.”

“You mean lame,” Ace stuck out his tongue. “It’s losing control of your negative emotions or whatever, right? Only idiots do it.”

“Don’t call Rosehearts-senpai an idiot!” Deuce snapped.

“So, Headmaster,” Yuu ignored the two of them as they slapped at each other behind her back. “How’s the research into finding a way back to my world going?”

Crowley cleared his throat. “Hmm? Ah, your way home, yes. Ahem! Of course, of course I’m working on it.”

“This guy’s not even pretending to do it,” Grim muttered.

“I _am_ working on it!” Crowley protested. “It’s just right now, the preparations for the Magical Shift Tournament at the end of the month are eating up all of my time. You would do well not to underestimate the amount of planning that goes into such an event!”

Yuu raised a hand. “Sorry. What’s Magical Shift?”

—

“And everyone looked at me like I was insane,” she finished.

Afternoon light filtered through the canopy of leaves in the Botanical Gardens’ temperate zone. Across from Yuu’s comfortable spot in the shaded grass, Ruggie leaned against the trunk of a tree, licking crumbs of yesterday’s banana bread from his fingers. Dappled patterns of shade fell across his soft-looking triangular ears, which were both angled in her direction.

“You didn’t know what _Magift_ was,” he deadpanned.

Leona yawned, stretched out lazily from beside them, and rolled over to curl into a more relaxed position.

“Ace and Deuce—my friends explained it to me, after they made fun of me for ten minutes,” she shrugged. “Basically, it’s some famous sport like American football, right? People sure like sports everywhere I go.”

“Amer…?” Ruggie squinted at her before he dismissed it. “It’s less the sport itself and more the attention it brings to our school. We _are_ one of the top contenders.”

“They said the same thing,” she nodded. “Something about the school-wide tournament held here every fall being broadcast on TV and stuff around the world?”

“Yeah. Everyone’s watching, and it’s one of the rare opportunities for people to visit the campus, which is good for our reputation and treasury.” Ruggie explained willingly enough. “Not to mention—scouts from national Magift organizations are always on the lookout for excellent players.”

Yuu equated this Magical Shift to American football even more strongly in her head. The rules about guarding a flying disc and putting it through the other team’s goalpost was identical to the sport, though Magift used teams of seven players each like Quidditch, and the field looked quite a bit smaller than a football field.

“But being able to use magic during the match sounds kind of…dangerous, to say the least,” Yuu commented. Even Quidditch banned all forms of magic during a match.

“That’s where the kid gloves come off,” Ruggie shrugged. “I mean I can’t see any students being stupid enough to intentionally maim someone in front of international TV and reporters, but weak players deserve to get offed.”

“What about contact? There are rules about physical fighting, right?”

“Physical fighting isn’t even needed if you’ve got magic,” Ruggie pointed out.

That was true. Magic was the great equalizer in situations such as this—even slow, stumbling, small people like Yuu could take control of the field if she was allowed to use her self-made Charms. Still, given the physical component about guarding the flying disc (which was probably enchanted) with one’s own body, she was content to watch this sport from a distance.

Plus, the mode of transportation was most commonly _broomsticks_.

“It’s got nothing to do with me I guess, since our dorm doesn’t have enough players to attend,” she shrugged with a grin. “Though Grim—my partner—was wailing about not being able to appear in front of the cameras and wow the girls.”

“In the first place, how is a little Monster like him supposed to handle the disc against someone way bigger?” Ruggie snorted, seemingly familiar with the school’s smallest student. He patted his stomach with a satisfied sigh. “The bread was good, but I prefer something crispier. Bring cookies or something next time.”

“Grim tends to eat the cookies the fastest,” Yuu said sheepishly, “but I’ll see if I can bake some extra next week.”

“Anyway, I can’t believe someone existed in this world who didn’t know what Magift was,” snorted Ruggie condescendingly.

Yuu pointed at herself without offence. “Right here.”

“Yeah, I noticed. You’re pretty…” Ruggie waved a bony hand in the air. “blunder-headed, aren’t you?”

“Not necessarily,” she protested, “it’s not my fault I have no knowledge of something. I’m learning, aren’t I?”

“What’s stupid is revealing how disadvantaged you are,” Ruggie lectured her. “Here’s where you stay quiet and don’t reveal to people like me that you’re as ignorant as a cub.”

“Leona-senpai already knows I know nothing, and so do you,” shrugged Yuu. “I can use my lack of knowledge as a weapon, too, you know.”

“This kid…” Ruggie muttered. “When a senpai gives you advice, you’re supposed to thank ‘em, kid, not act so un-cute and sure of yourself.”

“Un-cute isn’t a word, and I’m giving you my leftover baked goods, aren’t I?” She shot back. “Sorry, senpai, but I’m not really good at the respect without question thing.” Unless one was a professor.

“I’ll say. If I ever met one kid here who _was_ I’d swallow my tail.” Ruggie stretched and then frowned at her. “So why do you keep hanging around here? Trying to get into my good books?”

“If I said yes, what would you do?” Yuu asked curiously, twirling the pencil she held around her fingers.

Ruggie glanced at it. “…Too obvious,” he concluded after a moment. “I’d call you a liar.”

“It’s not smart to lie in front of someone who can tell,” Yuu said reasonably, indicating Leona’s back with her chin. “So I won’t say anything.”

“Looks like you’ve learned something,” Ruggie exposed one canine briefly in humour. “Though hanging out in front of two predators like us so defencelessly still tells me you’ve got more to learn.”

“This is a famous school,” Yuu deadpanned. “I’m sure that you won’t murder me with the consequences looming before you. Plus, for better or for worse, I stick out like a sore thumb. Any action taken against me will be _really_ obvious.”

“Oh yeah?” challenged Ruggie. “Your fingers are stained black, kid.”

Yuu blinked in surprise, glancing down at her hand. Indeed, the oil-based permanent marker covering her desk had taken some serious scrubbing to clean today—and had left some ink on her fingers in the process.

“…What does that have to do with anything?” she asked carefully. “I write a lot of notes, you know.”

“The day before yesterday, you were limping,” Ruggie listed succinctly, “yesterday your sleeve was wet, today your fingers are black…do you want me to keep going, Yuu-kun?”

Yuu met his stare evenly.

Ruggie’s big blue-grey eyes narrowed, catching the light dangerously. The air prickled with danger for a moment.

She was preparing to push herself to her feet when Ruggie leaned against his tree and burst into his signature _shi-shi-shi_ laugh. Surprised, Yuu fell over backwards onto her arms and watched the oversized black school blazer shake with his mirth.

“Ahh…it’s been a while since I laughed this hard,” Ruggie wiped at the corners of his eyes. “You’re really amusing, Yuu-kun, you know that?”

“I have no idea what was so funny,” Yuu lifted a hand like she was in class.

“For a kid who so obviously doesn’t belong here, I was wondering why you hadn’t quit school yet,” Ruggie told her, still hiccupping. “I mean…I’m not bragging, but I’ve been here for a while. The kids aren’t gonna sit still and let a magicless kid run around freely.”

“I mean, I don’t really have anywhere else to go.” Yuu still didn’t see what he was laughing about. “Plus I can deal with it.”

“Yeah…yeah, you can,” Ruggie nodded, the friendly smile from back in Savanaclaw’s lounge making his face look younger. “I underestimated you a bit, kid. Guess you’re not as much of a useless waste of space as I originally thought.”

“Ouch,” Yuu grinned back. “Well, even if I am a useless waste of space and everyone hates me, I’m not going anywhere soon, so those ‘kids’ are going to have to deal with me too.”

While Ace and Deuce and Grim (though the latter was usually caught escaping from windows) were trapped in remedial lessons, Yuu had wandered around exploring the Botanical Gardens, which were full of more exotic plants than she could have ever imagined. After her encounter with Ruggie and Leona the first day, it would have been a wiser decision to avoid the area—clearly, they were both talking about something they didn’t want her to hear.

But Yuu was alone. And she was much more afraid of her own mind than of the possible physical danger of being exposed to two Savanaclaw students.

When she’d found Ruggie and Leona in the same spot the next day and waved in greeting, both Therianthropes had given her the most taken-aback stares she’d ever seen come from them, sending Yuu into a fit of laughter. Yet Leona, who appeared to be extremely sensitive to others’ emotions and intentions (like a real feline), didn’t threaten her or tell her to leave. Ruggie was more-or-less submissive in Leona’s presence, so apart from a few strange glances, she was left alone.

Before she’d known it, the first week of October had entered its latter half. She’d gone from walking by the two of them in her garden observations—this clearing was, apparently, Leona’s favourite napping spot—to handing Ruggie today’s extra sweets, since he still looked haggard. The past few days, due to a twisted ankle from a particularly unkind Scarabia student, she’d been sitting in the clearing trading idle conversation. Leona slept through most of the afternoon, but Ruggie, when he was not cajoling Leona to do his homework or give him the dirty laundry the former had left lying around, made for an interesting enough conversation partner.

Yuu was glad none of them fussed about her ankle, not even Leona who was kind to women. (She’d only briefly considered that they hadn’t noticed at all—Leona’s subtle glance down at her feet destroyed that thought rather quickly.) The harassment was her problem and she didn’t want it to be blown out of proportion. A twisted ankle healed relatively quickly, too, though her _Episkey_ was as weak as ever.

Yuu had been through much worse. And ever since she’d come to this world, the benefits in her favour had heaped up so high—lodging, food, Grim, Ace, Deuce, and a new library full of _new magic_ —that the pestering didn’t really enter her line of vision.

In return for the baked goods she brought—which Ruggie seemed to savour—he allowed her to sit within the clearing and sometimes engaged her in conversation. Despite his unfriendly warning their first meeting, Ruggie had not made any moves to _really_ threaten her yet, which might have been due to her peace offerings, but he also didn’t seem someone who could hold onto his anger for too long.

Ruggie Bucchi was a careful second year who displayed an almost animal awareness of his surroundings, full of sharp edges that none of the Heartslabyul students possessed. Yuu was beginning to associate this intensity with everyone from Savanaclaw, including Leona when he wasn’t asleep. Ruggie, however, was nothing like the lion Therianthrope whose favourite pastime was napping—the hyena Therianthrope was always on the move.

Yuu had learned this past week that Ruggie did chores for Leona only in return for a case-by-case reward system. While Leona slept, Ruggie would create his meals, do his laundry, make his bed, even sometimes braid his hair in the mornings. After he came back from fetching his lunch, Leona would toss his wallet at him carelessly. Ruggie had complained to her about this several times, repeating over and over that Leona had no idea what the value of money was and that he should just steal the entire wallet and leave.

Amused, she’d commented that he was like a mother before his glare silenced her. Even without Leona’s chores chasing him around, though, Ruggie was always doing something, always moving and gathering information and lecturing Leona about showing up in class and running back and forth completing whatever task his mind was set on.

“You’re lucky I like food,” he grumbled at her one day, pie crumbs and berry filling staining the side of his mouth, “or else I wouldn’t be around here.”

“Not ‘or else I’d kick you out’?” she questioned.

“This is Leona-san’s spot, not mine. And it’s none of my business where you sit,” Ruggie said matter-of-factly. “’S not like you’re causing trouble here, is it?”

Unlike her acquaintances so far, Ruggie had a bit of cold practicality to him that Yuu could identify with closely. Perhaps he’d detected that same quality in her, too; Ruggie obviously didn’t trust her, but he no longer made derisive comments about her and instead told her that if she didn’t make it a bad deal for him, he wouldn’t mind her hanging around. Hence, the extras she baked went all to him now that Grim was in remedials.

Yuu thought privately that this senpai was surprisingly gluttonous for his thin stature (though he was a good fifteen centimetres taller than her). Perhaps it had to do with the whole hyena thing, but he ate voraciously, though it never seemed to fill out his slight figure.

She wasn’t complaining—if he let her hang around, she could study his ears and tail without making excuses. Even if Ruggie Bucchi disliked her, he himself was plenty interesting to observe.

Still, Ruggie was loath to talk about himself and he never asked about her. Unlike almost everyone she’d met—in Hogwarts and NRC—he was eager to doubt and reluctant to trust in a much more intense way than Fred II, Ace, or even Leona. Ruggie had everything in his life sorted out and understood, and he made it very clear that he didn’t need anything else unless it granted him some sort of benefit.

Yuu respected this way of thinking immensely, because it meant Ruggie would almost never get taken advantage of. Here was a _true_ Ravenclaw. Intelligence did not lie in the blind pursuit of knowledge, for that in itself was a fool’s errand—intelligence was the practical, composed way Ruggie behaved. No one would ever best him in any situation.

Now, Yuu pondered him as the hyena Therianthrope scribbled down on his homework across from her, ears flicking in Leona’s direction once in a while. “Senpai. How do I be like you?”

Ruggie dropped his pencil.

—

Friday after school saw Yuu staring up at the employee entrance of Mostro Lounge apprehensively. Perhaps it was due to her unbecoming manner during the interview, but Azul Ashengrotto had mulled over his decision for a long time before he told her he’d have her on for a testing period of one week. When he’d learned she had no phone, he had suggested that she get one for communications and that he could ‘make a deal’ with her for a cheap one.

Yuu declined for now. She didn’t like the look in his eyes when the word ‘deal’ had left his mouth—and he’d only promised her a test-hire, not a full-time job. Azul didn’t seem very surprised or disappointed at her refusal; instead, an elegantly stamped letter had reached Ramshackle’s creaky door the next day detailing her first shift Friday afternoon.

Despite leaving right after school, Yuu had gotten quite lost in Octavinelle’s exterior path looking for the employee entrance of Mostro Lounge. She’d been lucky last time, but her lack of spatial orientation had come back to bite her. It was only after she circled the fishbone building entirely after half an hour of fruitless wandering and paced back and forth between the dorm through a twisting path leading back down (looking rather shifty and suspicious) that she’d reached the door buried in the fish’s side, helpfully labelled EMPLOYEES ONLY.

Now she was stuck. If this had been Heartslabyul or perhaps even Savanaclaw, Yuu would have walked in without a second’s hesitation—but she had no idea what the people living in Octavinelle were like. Had come with nothing but an expensive-looking piece of thick parchment detailing the date and time of the meeting. If Azul’s personality was anything to go by, going in without permission would trigger some sort of misconduct policy she was unaware of and put an eighty million Madol debt on her shoulders or something.

Hemming and hawing in front of the door proved to be a fatal mistake.

Yuu looked up just as the door swung outwards and met a deep lilac button-up shirt with her nose. The other party was just as startled as she was, but instead of jerking back a couple of reflexive steps like she did, he merely went unnaturally still, one hand curled around the doorknob.

Once again, she had to crane her head back to meet the new arrival’s face. Yuu immediately held her breath in unconscious caution. He was tall, and a mirror image of Jade Leech—literally, with the same turquoise hair parted on the opposite side, one dark strand laying boldly across the right side of his head. Even his heterochromatic eyes mirrored Jade’s; the right one a brilliant sparkling gold and the left a dark olive. Standing before him she felt like an ant as the man—boy? But he was so tall—narrowed those olive-and-gold eyes and stared down at her.

“…Who’re _you_?” His voice was dragged in a long tenor drawl.

For a long, tense moment, Yuu could not find the words in her to respond. This stranger may have looked almost identical to Jade, but the air surrounding him was nothing like the polite barman’s calm manner. While Jade wore his uniform buttoned up all the way, this person had the suit jacket completely undone, revealing the ribbon of his bow-tie dangling around his collar. The shirt itself had the first two buttons popped off messily. His eyes were slanted down in an almost gentle manner, the curve of his mouth wide and prone to smiling—but those eyes were colder than an arctic breeze.

Yuu fought past her instinctive response to the naked danger bared against her in those darkened eyes and cleared her throat. “Excuse me. I’m the new test hire whose first shift is today. This is the entrance I should come in from, right?”

He let go of the doorknob and leaned against it lazily, but even with his slouch, the Jade lookalike towered over her, the top of his head nearly reaching the doorjamb.

Those beautiful and dangerous eyes narrowed in an unfriendly sneer. “Huh? You think such a terrible excuse is gonna fly? Don’t make me la~ugh. So what’s the _real_ reason a tiny fish like you is skulking around this place?”

Yuu frowned, wondering why he didn’t believe her. Had Azul not told him she was coming in today? Perhaps he’d tricked her—but for now, she needed to get rid of this misunderstanding because this huge person in front of her looked ready to snap any second. “I’m really—”

She didn’t get to finish. Her sentence was cut off abruptly with a loud _BANG!_

Yuu leapt backwards instinctively before she realized that the man in front of her had slammed his fist into the wall by the door with one white-gloved hand. His face was still slack as he regarded her.

This was nothing like the open hostility displayed when the Savanaclaw students tried to punch her. The person in front of her made those students look like children at a playground. He hadn’t so much changed his loose expression, but the entire wall had shaken with that one punch—

And those eyes weren’t human.

The stranger scanned her up and down with absolutely no emotion on his pale and delicate features before laughter bubbled out of him effervescently. He bent over to look her in the eye, his own narrowing almost sweetly. “Wha~t are you flinching backwards for? You look like a little shrimp.” 

Yuu swallowed. Every cell in her body was telling her to run the hell away from the person—the animal in front of her. Still, she stood her ground. “I’m not a shrimp. I’m the new part-timer here.” 

At her continued efforts to convince him, all expression dropped off from his cheerful face again, which she was starting to think looked _nothing_ like Jade’s. He tilted his head to the side, exposing his right ear, from which dangled three matching blue diamonds, and bared a mouth full of unbelievably sharp teeth, filed to points. “Like I said, don’t spit out boring lies at me. It’s real… _annoying._ ” 

Those teeth were sharper than shark teeth. They gleamed against the ocean backdrop like knives.

Yuu had a couple of options. She could beat a strategic retreat or she could continue to plead her case. Unfortunately, time was running out until her shift, and Yuu had given her word to be here today. Someone like Azul would not let her off lightly if she were to slack off.

This meant that she’d have to brave the person standing before her. Yuu was no Gryffindor and this stranger was the scariest person she’d ever met, with maybe the exception of Lilia Vanrouge. But she gathered her shaking hands into fists and tilted her chin up at him. “It’s the truth.”

Seeing her resolve on display did nothing for his temper. The teeth flashed in unfriendly scorn as he pushed himself off the side of the door and took one huge threatening step in her direction. “Hey, Koebi-chan, are you talking to me like that even knowing who I am? Do you really want me to… _squeeze_ your li’l neck that badly?”

Yuu could not suppress her shiver as the last word dropped an octave. “…Then what will it take for you to believe me?” 

He made a playful gesture of sinking in thought, tapping one long finger against his head before turning to her with a wide smile. “Hmm. I guess I’ll believe you _i~f_ you disappear.”

“Sorry. I can’t do that.”

She watched his temper fray and the smile twist. “……You keep being irritating, li’l shrimp. What, you _really_ want me to strangle you? Then guess I’ll have to grant—that—wish!”

“Wha—hold on, _ugh_ —”

It happened too quickly for her to move. One second he was standing several steps away, looking bored and unengaged—the next he was in her face and that huge hand had closed around her throat.

Yuu hadn’t _not_ been expecting physical violence. She’d gone through plenty of it in her early years at Hogwarts, not to mention the petty shoving and squabbling aimed her way at NRC. Even last time, at the entrance to Savanaclaw when two of its residents had held her up by her collar ready to punch her, she’d prepared herself somehow—expected somehow to take a punch or two.

Still. If those two Therianthropes were fast, this person was even faster. Despite his height he had looked lanky, pale, and delicate with his pretty face, and she was taken off guard enough to let him catch her by the throat and lift her into the air.

Yuu managed to get half a breath in before he _squeezed_. There was an unbelievable grip strength in this guy’s fingers, enough to cut off her air supply laughably easily, and the fingers were so long they wrapped around the sides of her neck and crushed her voice-box—

Belatedly, she clutched at the arm dangling her from the air and tugged at it fruitlessly.

“A _ha_ ~.” Past the roaring in her ears she heard the elated laugh, spiking upwards in a completely out of place calm. “Koebi-chan, you really are as light as a li’l shrimp. You call that struggling? Don’t make me la~ugh.”

Yuu made a choking noise as she tried to respond.

“Listen up, small fish,” his voice dropped threateningly again. There was no trace of humanity in those beautiful eyes as the stranger smiled cheerfully. “I don’t know who the hell you are and why you’re hanging around this place, and I don’t care. But cheeky little brats like you shouldn’t even _think_ of intruding in our Mostro Lounge for free. Got it?”

“ _Guh_ —”

“No matter how small you are, if you’re a student here you’re at least old enough to understand what I’m saying, ri~ght?” he shook her once, twice. Sparks flew across her vision. “Even kids know they shouldn’t wander around in places like these.”

Yuu gave up on trying to respond to him and started focusing on staying conscious. The pressure in her airways had become unbearable, and blackness was creeping around the edges of her vision.

“C’mon,” the tenor drawl sounded pleasant to the ears. “I’m talking to you, so why don’t. You. Respond. Ko-e-bi-chan?”

Yuu scratched at the arm holding onto her in an effort to get him to let go. She could feel the tell-tale spiral of vertigo that always preceded unconsciousness beginning to tug her down…

“He~y, don’t you think you’re being rude?” his voice fell again, down down down into the pit of her stomach and he was saying something in that sickly-sweet voice about manners and responding when someone was asking you a question—

But she could no longer understand…

“Floyd!”

The shock of hitting the pavement brought Yuu back to the afternoon sea blue outside Octavinelle with a burst of pain; she teetered on her unsteady feet and fell onto her behind. Her airways were free—she gasped in one breath, two, three. The air tasted unbelievably refreshing; she was alive.

“Wha~t?” she heard as she coughed desperately to get the air back into her collapsed lungs, bright spots bursting behind her eyelids. Yuu cracked one watering eye open to come face to face with a huge pair of wingtip brogues done in black and white stitching. Distantly, she noted how classy, how clean they looked for someone who’d nearly choked her to death just now.

The man with the deceptively sweet voice was saying something she’d missed, but Yuu recognized Jade’s slightly harried, cultured baritone. “Floyd, that’s our new test hire. What are you going to do, strangling them on the first day?”

“Eeh~? Li’l shrimp was telling the truth? But why would Azul hire someone this tiny?” the newly named Floyd dragged his words cheerfully, not seeming repentant in the least.

“That’s not for you to say, is it?” Jade sighed and a second pair of brogues entered her hazy line of vision before the Yuu left the purple coral rock of the ground.

“That’s boring,” whined Floyd.

Jade set her upright without seeming affected by the weight of a fifteen-year-old and steadied her. “Are you all right, Yuu-san?”

Yuu coughed a couple times, dashing the tears from her eyes, and opened her mouth to say yes. Nothing came out but a pitiful croak.

“Floyd,” Jade sighed in light disappointment, “At least refrain from crushing his thorax. Humans are quite delicate there, you know.”

“I didn’t even put in any strength!” Floyd complained, coming over beside Jade and leaning on his shoulder casually. He grinned down at her. “You sure are fragile, huh, Koebi-chan? How’re you gonna survive in the world like that?”

Yuu sighed and motioned for him to hold out his hand.

Jade blinked at her in interest and Floyd tilted his head on his lookalike’s shoulder, smile not changing, before he obligingly stuck out a glove.

She wrote on his palm, _it’s none of your business_. Yuu tapped on his hand to get him to retract it and gave him a big smile before she stuck out her middle finger in his face.

—

“This is Floyd Leech,” Azul said, indicating Floyd beside him, who was leaning over the back of the couch in a boneless slouch. “He is our top batter in the kitchen and a regular in the hall. And you’ve met my vice Dorm Head, Jade Leech. They’re twins in the second year.”

“He~y Azul,” Floyd poked Azul’s shoulder with one gloved finger lazily. “Why’d you hire such a weak-looking shrimp? This kid has no resistance at all.” Not a single shred of repentance was found in his dismissive glance in her direction.

“Floyd, you need to reflect on your actions,” Azul lectured, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his second and third fingers. “I told you not to go strangling people without my permission. What were you going to do if today’s help became useless because of you?”

Yuu was careful to note that he didn’t mention any concern for her health—only the concern for his shop’s continued ability to run. She hadn’t misjudged Azul at all. This person couldn’t care about her less than he did a rock lying on the ground.

Currently, she sat across from the three Octavinelle students in the VIP Lounge, nursing a glass of ice water. Her voice was done for today, but she had escaped with only a couple of bruises and a red welt across her neck, which she counted as lucky. It was within her expectations that _one_ of the NRC students would be completely off his rocker—that she’d met him this late seemed like a miracle.

More importantly…

Yuu caught Azul’s eye and pointed at Jade, who was seated on his other side. The vice Dorm Head was still bent over shaking. Every so often a cross between a sigh, snort, and gasp would escape him, tilting his fedora sideways.

Floyd rolled his eyes and bent forwards so that he somersaulted onto the couch gracefully. “It’s not _that_ funny, Ja~de,” he pouted, looking almost criminally guileless for someone who surpassed a hundred and ninety centimetres.

“Just what on earth happened?” Azul glanced over at the trembling Jade with a disgusted sort of interest before he turned to her, seeking explanation.

Yuu smiled widely and pointed at Floyd. Even if she had expected this—even if she wasn’t necessarily angry at him, there was no love lost between them right now.

“What? You cheeky li’l shrimp. Seriously, even after my warning, you’ve still not learned your lesson?” Floyd leaned forwards with a manic grin. “What…d’you want me to strangle you again?”

Yuu rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him.

Floyd seemed to freeze solid where he sat slumped against the couch.

Azul shook his head in amazement. “…Well, I suppose I should be glad that you weren’t scared off by the twins. I do sincerely apologize for this one’s actions! Floyd, you apologize too.”

“…Why should I have to apologize to this li’l shrimp?” Floyd grimaced in her direction. “With that attitude, he’s lucky I didn’t strangle him a second time.”

“Oh my, how unfortunate,” Azul’s smile widened. “Well, that’s how it is, Yuu-san. If you are reluctant to work here with this problem child—”

“I’m _seventeen_!”

“—then I advise you to terminate your job efforts here. How about it? It’s not too late.”

Yuu gulped down half her glass. “Don’t worry,” she croaked. “No big deal. Just tell me what to do, Ashengrotto-senpai.”

Jade coughed several times before sitting up straight, face set in its signature polite smile, though his eyes were wet with laughter. “The Directing Student’s perseverance is truly something to be admired. I can take over training for you, Azul, if you accept him.”

“Huuuuh!?” Floyd jerked upright, gaping at his twin. “When the hell did you get interested in this li’l shrimp? He’s like… _tiny_!”

Jade chuckled. “Yes, he is, Floyd. And your point is?”

Floyd spluttered. “This weak, small _fish_ won’t even last a day.”

“Oya. We’ll have to see about that, won’t we, Directing Student?” Jade smiled in her direction.

Yuu, wondering why he was being so polite to her so suddenly, nodded back with an answering smile.

“No way,” Floyd grumbled. “Why is this kid even here? Find some other place to work.”

Yuu arched an eyebrow at him before turning to Jade in askance.

“Please don’t mind my brother,” Jade said politely. “Floyd has a bit of a troublesome personality, but he’s not so bad.”

“Not so bad…” Azul coughed into his glove, eye twitching. “Very well. Since you volunteered, Jade, you can take over Yuu-san’s training for now. Although…we’ll have to see how long he can last in here. After all, it’s rare for a human to come down to Octavinelle.”

Yuu gave his unpleasant smile a deadpan glance. Azul and Floyd didn’t seem to want to make things easy for her. Still, it wasn’t like she had any options, so Yuu sighed and pushed herself to her feet to follow Jade to the kitchens. As she walked after his broad back, rubbing at her sore throat, she wondered if this person in front of her was another saboteur.

Living in a different world was, after all, not easy.

—

Mostro Lounge was—contrary to expectations—a workplace created around rules. With Azul’s insistence on profit, self-interest, and his business-like disregard for the safety and health of others, she was expecting a place resembling a mafia headquarters, or in Japanese terms, a ‘black company’. Instead, a code of conduct was pasted in large letters on the wall; the kitchen was clean and gleamed with metal accessories; a few kitchen staff were chopping ingredients at the back, laughing cheerfully among themselves.

Jade walked her through a tour of the kitchens behind the bar, which were larger than she expected, the break room, where a student was fiddling with his phone, and the changing room, in which he presented her a change of clothes. Yuu made an excuse about going to the washroom when he hurried her to change in front of him and quickly struggled into the Mostro Lounge uniform standing in a stall.

Crewel, who had been extremely disapproving of her ‘tacky vest’ which protected and hid her chest, had provided her with a few unbelievably comfortable sets of undergarments last week which were, according to him, enchanted to hide the shape of her chest completely. Still, they were more fashionable and…girly…than any brassiere she’d worn before, so Yuu obviously couldn’t let them be seen in an all-boy’s school. Crewel, according to Crowley, could get a little crazy when he was confronted with fashion. Boring clothing was out of the question for him.

He would have approved of Mostro Lounge’s uniform, Yuu thought privately. Even though her provided set was small, there must have been some sort of Self-Shrinking Charm or whatever this world’s version of it was—the black dress pants fit snugly enough around her hips and over the well-fitted lilac dress shirt. She laced the white ribbon around her collar, hurriedly pulled the long suit jacket on, and stumbled out into the hallway, where Jade was waiting with his back against the wall.

“ _Oya oya_ ,” Jade smiled down at her. “It almost looks like you’re a miniature Octavinelle student. Well, we don’t have a hat or stole for you, as you are not a part of the dorm, so it will have to do.”

“I’ve never worn anything this formal,” Yuu said hoarsely, tugging at the bow. Her voice was still more-or-less shot. “Would you mind telling me if anything’s out of order?”

Jade chuckled. “Well, first of all, the way you tie your bow should be different. That’s a butterfly knot, where…” he leaned down, undid her bowtie deftly, and made a complicated series of movements before fastening a much comelier bow-tie shape under her collar. “This is what it should look like.”

Yuu winced. At her interview she’d done the same method of tying—which was obviously wrong. “Leech-senpai…please teach me how to tie that next time.”

“We’ll see if there is a next time,” Jade said ominously without losing his polite speech. Perhaps that made it sound even worse.

Yuu shadowed him through the kitchen as he laid a menu in front of her and began preparations for that night’s dinner menu. As it was Friday evening, they were expecting a higher volume of incoming customers than usual. When she read the prices and was told how much they made in a single night, Yuu stared at Jade with such admiration that he nearly dropped an egg covering his mouth to stifle laughter.

It was all Azul, he told her proudly, Azul who created this Lounge out of nothing his first year of school and fought his way up to success. Yet Yuu was sure Jade (and maybe Floyd) had at least one hand in its rise. For all their obvious danger, these two twins looked intelligent in Jade’s case and physically capable in Floyd’s.

Mostro Lounge made her little experiment with the group of Hogwarts entrepreneurs in the summer of Second Year look like child’s play. These NRC’s second-year students were making so much money that she wondered what Azul was doing with it.

Still, Yuu had cooked for herself her whole life—it was either that or starve. After reading over the menu until she could reasonably remember most of what they served, she pulled on an apron that was so big that Jade had to shrink it with magic and started to peel potatoes beside him, eager to get to work.

It had been a while since she had made anything other than baked goods, and Yuu had never minded cooking, so she took to the job with enthusiasm. Jade Leech was an unbelievably efficient worker and so good with a knife that it was frightening. She quickly learned to leave the slicing to him and focused on piling up vegetables fast enough for him to grab onto.

The only way to keep time was the silent clock hanging above their heads. When seventeen o’clock passed, Floyd waltzed into the kitchen and whistled at the piles of ingredients gathered neatly together.

“Dang, Jade, you’ve gotten faster,” He leaned on his brother, completely ignoring her.

“Is that so? It must be because I have an excellent helper,” Jade said smoothly.

Floyd’s good mood vanished in the blink of an eye. “As if li’l shrimp could do anything around here.”

Yuu rolled her eyes and ignored him. This guy reminded her of all of the psychopaths she’d seen in movies and then some. The way his mood changed so quickly nearly gave her whiplash.

Her blasé attitude did not sit well with Floyd, who let go of Jade, stomped over to her, and dropped over a hundred and ninety centimetres of weight on her shoulders. “He~y, Koebi-chan. It’s rude not to greet your co-worker, you know.”

Yuu teetered back and forth for a minute. “…Hello Strangler-senpai,” she managed hoarsely.

Jade snorted.

“Wha~t is with this cheeky li’l shrimp?” Floyd pinched her cheeks from behind painfully. “Careful I don’t just _squeeze_ you to death one day.”

Yuu put down her peeler and handed the last carrot over to Jade. “I don’t think it’s very nice to exert violence on a co-worker, senpai. _Some_ of us are being quite diligent here.”

“What’s with this seriously irritating kid. Hey Jade. Can I strangle him? Can I frickin’ strangle him?”

Jade pressed a gloved hand over his mouth and chuckled politely. “Of course you can’t, Floyd. Please resist the urge. Besides, you’re up next in the kitchen, so first you’ll have to do your job.”

Floyd sighed and put his chin on her head. “...... _Haa._ I’m not in the mood today. Since so~me cheeky Koebi-chan’s caused me to lose my motivation.”

“My fault?” Yuu shot back, though her voice cracked. “I don’t believe that Strangler-senpai would be so affected by my very presence that he isn’t able to work. How unfortunate.”

“This kid…” Floyd growled. “You have no idea what I do or how I do it, so don’t make comments about me.”

“Well then I’ll have to ask you not to make comments about me,” she said smartly.

“Fine. Fine!” Floyd stood up straight and turned her around, glaring her down in the with a slash of white teeth. “You just watch, Koebi-chan, and I’ll show you who’s not affected. You better get down on your knees and apologize later.”

“Whoa, he’s saying a lot, but can he put his money where his mouth is?” Yuu monotoned like a commentator. “Mostro Lounge, five PM. Will the psychopath be able to defeat the monstrous pile of ingredients in time for orders? The show continues.”

Floyd almost reached out for her neck again, but instead brought his fist down on her head. Yuu yelped as she saw stars; once she regained her vision, he’d started making a racket pulling out pans and pots and slamming them on the long row of ovens. Yuu scrunched up her nose at the noise before Jade leaned down to whisper in her ear.

“Are you not afraid of him?” he murmured curiously. “…Ah, and me, by extension. It’s been quite a while since we weren’t, ah…”

“Faced with screams of fright?” Yuu guessed.

“At least you know the proper reaction,” Jade said ruefully. “I’d been starting to wonder if you were just a tiny fool.”

“People sure love using that phrase about me,” she sighed.

Jade’s smile widened. “Which? Tiny or fool?”

“I’m going to step on your foot, Leech-senpai,” Yuu said pleasantly. “It’s just that as someone who is in a tough position, I am in no place to be shrinking back in fear due to bosses or co-workers who may have antisocial personality disorder.”

“Oh my. Lack of monetary funds poses quite the problem,” Jade said blandly.

Yuu was starting to see what kind of person this guy was. “…Anyway, it’s not that you two aren’t frightening. It’s just that I don’t have an option to avoid you, so it’s useless for me to try.”

“How resolute of you,” Jade murmured, watching Floyd fill a pot with water from the sink. “…You see, my brother…Floyd lives by the seat of his pants. His performance and mood change on the tip of a hat, but when things are going well, he accomplishes things that almost no one else can.”

Yuu peered up at him. Jade’s glance was narrowed almost as if Floyd was glowing too bright for him to see. “He usually does the cooking?”

“Oh yes…the kitchen is practically run by Floyd,” Jade chuckled. “Though when he’s not ‘in the mood,’ he slacks off…when he is, ah, inspired to put in some effort, everything he makes is delicious.”

Following his glance back to Floyd showed the other Leech twin carelessly pouring oil into a pan and slouching back over to the chopped scallions. Yuu had to look closely, but indeed, the movements resembled Trey’s practiced manner when he moved around the kitchen. Floyd himself looked sloppy and bored, but he was handling seven or eight pots and pans simultaneously—as if he were used to it.

“I didn’t expect him to actually be good at cooking,” she commented, impressed.

“It’s thanks to you for lighting a fire under his proverbial bottom,” Jade’s smile was back to the usual polite curve that she could never tell if reached his eyes. “I’m sure that to prove to Mister Shrimp that he isn’t affected by you at all, tonight’s dinner will receive a warm welcome in the lounge.”

Yuu made a face, unsure of how to feel about being the reason for Floyd’s resulting diligence, but the shifts had changed and tonight’s waiters were coming in, sliding their hats and stoles on their uniforms, so she lost her chance to continue the conversation.

In ‘consideration’ of her voice—or lack of it—Jade had received orders from Azul to keep Yuu in the back tonight. She was briefly introduced to the other staff, all of whom were Octavinelle dorm students, and was met with a surprising mix of indifference and pity-filled glances. Another scan of the food menu and they were off.

It was her first night working at a café-slash-restaurant and Yuu was swept up in rush hour orders in no time. After she caught a kitchen staff carrying the wrong order to the waiter’s pickup area the first time, Jade situated her firmly in the area between the cooks and the waiters. She quickly became the ferry between orders and the kitchen, though Yuu was too busy to wonder why she’d been put here.

Jade himself managed the kitchen superbly with both experience and talent. Under his control, none of the cooks acted out of form, except for Floyd, whose rather extreme approach to managing the fire often sent shoots of flames high up into the sky, scaring the people around him badly. Yuu noticed that despite the obvious authority both Jade and Floyd held in the kitchen, none of the staff seemed very friendly with them, a few outright scuttling around them like they were terrified.

She didn’t have time to observe the dynamics closely. Yuu ran back and forth between one of the waiters, who ruffled her hair every time she gave him a tray of food, and the kitchen staff, who barked at her irately for being too slow.

Still—everyone here was competent, even the dishwasher (who looked rather dejected). They pounded out orders that had hit triple digits by the time the flow slowed down.

Yuu blinked out of her stupor when she saw several of the waiters disappear out the employee entrance and glanced at the clock. With surprise, she noted that it was already past nine thirty.

“Good work,” Jade appeared by her side, looking none the worse for the wear. “We’ll be starting clean-up now, so after we’re done that, you’re free to go.”

“Huh? But the hours go until midnight on Friday, right?” Yuu cleared her throat several times to try and improve the quality of her voice and pointed towards the sign on the wall.

“Koebi-chan’s still here?” Floyd poked his head in from where he’d been serving drinks at the bar. He shooed her with a white glove. “Hurry up and get outta here. It’s too early for kids like you to stay out so late.”

“Strangler-senpai…” Yuu clutched her heart. “You’re worried about me?”

“Like hell,” he spat, “part-time kids can’t be here when the alcohol starts getting served, obviously.”

“Alcohol,” Yuu echoed. “…Is that legal?”

Azul stepped into the kitchen from the breakroom. “As long as we follow the regulations to serve above the legal age, it is,” he said smoothly. “Jade. How was Yuu-san’s first day on the job?”

“Quite a bit above my expectations,” Jade smiled back, folding a hand across his chest in subservience. “The Directing Student comprehends quickly and catches on to new tasks without any trouble. He has already surpassed our two newest hires and has only made one mistake in nearly two hundred orders.”

Yuu blinked. “Nearly two hundred? I guess I lost track of time.” She tried to keep going, but her sore throat only allowed a cough.

Azul leaned in to squint at her before he sighed and withdrew a small glass bottle curved in the shape of a shell. It was filled with a greenish liquid. “Here you are, Yuu-san.”

Yuu took the bottle and tilted her head in question.

“A small token of my apology for our Floyd’s behaviour today,” Azul clasped his gloved hands in front of him with a rather smarmy smile. “It should more or less cure your throat’s malady.”

Nodding, she uncorked the bottle and swallowed it in a single gulp. By now, Yuu was used to the disgusting taste of all potions brewed in the Twisted Wonderland, so she didn’t so much as wince.

When she tilted her head back down, she met Floyd’s face, still halfway out the door. He was staring at her like she had just grown a second head.

Yuu blinked over at Jade and Azul, who were both similarly frozen. “What?” she said much more clearly and massaged her less painful throat in surprise. “Hey, it works really fast.”

“You just…swallowed that without even checking to see if…” Azul started haltingly and then pressed a glove to his forehead. “Are you a fool?”

“No?” Yuu tried, corking the bottle again. “I don’t think that you’d be so obvious as to give me a phial of poison for no reason after I worked for you all evening. Plus, there are so many ways you could have harmed me without making it this obvious. And you’ve got a reputation to uphold, right? Poisoning a worker in your restaurant is the foolish move to make.”

“All true,” Jade sighed, “but usually people—especially humans—are a little more cautious.”

“There’s no reason to doubt someone like Ashengrotto-senpai with things like these,” Yuu said matter-of-factly. “He’s more likely to trick you with details than with something so obvious.”

Azul exhaled. “…Today has been full of surprises,” he murmured. “Yuu-san, as expected from someone who has come from a different world. You are truly an anomaly.”

Jade went still beside her.

Floyd gave up hovering and ducked into the kitchen. “Hey, hey, Azul. What the hell does that mean? Different _world_?”

“Ashengrotto-senpai,” Yuu groaned.

“Whoops,” Azul said with a wicked smile. “Well, if you are going to work here, they would have figured out eventually. These two are both far too intelligent not to.”

“Are you kidding me? This li’l shrimp came here from a _different world!_ No wonder he’s got none of the common sense anyone else has. Hey, hey, does he not know what we _are_?!” Floyd, suddenly bursting with momentum, charged over to her and lifted her bodily into the air like a child.

When someone approaching two metres in height manhandled her, Yuu didn’t even try to fight him. “Sir, this is harassment.”

“Aw come on, don’t be so uptight. Hey, you’re a human right? Are humans all the same or are different-world humans even weaker or something?” Floyd fired off, his grin widening and showing a mouth full of those sharpened teeth. “You’re a _baby_! Literally a baby who doesn’t know anything about this world. I could tell you _anything_ and get you to believe me!”

“From now on I will never believe anything Strangler-senpai says,” monotoned Yuu. “Please put me down.”

“No way. This is _too_ good.”

Yuu noted absently that when excited, Floyd Leech didn’t look very scary at all. The childish light sparkling in his mismatched eyes and his wide smile brought out the full force of his handsomeness.

Yet those hands under her arms could kill her without a second’s thought.

“Indeed,” Jade, whom she had thought about relying on as the voice of reason, finally spoke. But when Yuu turned to him, the same unholy light brightening his twin’s eyes transformed Jade’s gaze into something even more frightening as he smiled politely up at her. “Directing Student, why on earth didn’t you tell me something like that earlier? No wonder you were so…innocent.”

Yuu went very still under that inhuman stare. She felt like a butterfly pinned to a board, unable to move. When Jade finished the last word, his lip lifted slightly to reveal the same knife-sharp teeth—

“Floyd, put Yuu-san down, please.” Unexpectedly, Azul was the one to break the sudden dangerous air weighing down the kitchen. “And Jade, stop threatening our newest hire. If your report is true, I don’t want to toss him out just yet.”

“ _Fine_ ,” sighed Floyd, dropping her. Yuu landed with a stumble.

“I sincerely apologize,” Jade said smoothly.

Yuu trusted him about as far as she could throw him. Since he most likely outweighed her twice, this said a lot.

These twins were trouble. Yuu resolved to hide behind Azul should any of them get angry at her—he seemed to be the only one able to control them.

Azul crossed his arms and considered her behind his glasses. “I did not expect you to last this long, Yuu-san,” he said at last, “or at all. However, it is true that Mostro Lounge was in need of help, so honestly, you are an unexpected blessing.”

“So I’m hired?”

“Not so fast,” his smirk was back. Azul was someone who smirks befit well. “The test period lasts one week, and believe me when I say we will work you as much as permitted in that time frame. If you last the week, we’ll hire you.”

“Do I get paid for the test period too?” Yuu wanted to know.

Azul looked offended. “What do you think I am? Of course you will. I’m not in the business of unfair labour here.”

Floyd sniggered. “Yeah, sure.”

“Shut up, Floyd. Yuu-san, your shift was quite long, and you haven’t had a break, so I’ll dismiss you now. Your next shift is Sunday afternoon. Understood?”

“Do I still come in the employee entrance?” Yuu asked pointedly, eyeing Floyd. “I need a working voice if I’m going to be interacting with customers.”

“Ah, don’t worry. Floyd will no longer be impeding your entrance. Right, Floyd?” Azul glanced over at him.

Floyd crossed his arms behind his head and whistled at the ceiling. “Not my fault I wasn’t informed,” he sang.

“So don’t worry,” Azul finished with his suspicious-looking smile.

“You know…I’m wondering if you purposely didn’t let him know because you knew he would try and scare me off by strangling me half to death,” Yuu mused. “And you just let him because you wanted to test me or something.”

Azul’s smile froze. Floyd made a funny choking noise.

“…Directing Student, a point of advice is not to say things you think,” Jade advised from the side. “It’s not good for your safety.”

“What, really?” Yuu blinked in surprise at Azul. “I wasn’t serious. Ashengrotto-senpai, you’re kind of a jerk, aren’t you?”

“Is that any way to talk about your superior?” Azul raised one silver brow.

Yuu crossed her arms. “Do you _want_ me to work here or not, senpai? That’s a lot of sabotaging for someone in need of help.”

“It’s too suspicious for someone to volunteer so conveniently. Doubly so if you’re magicless, weak…someone like a Directing Student.” Azul sniffed down at her superciliously. “Do forgive me if I had to take some preventative measures.”

“Okay. Did I pass them?” she asked back without anger.

“…Does this li’l shrimp not value his own life?” muttered Floyd.

“It’s quite interesting, so let’s leave it at that,” Jade murmured back.

Azul sighed. “Yes, Yuu-san, you’ve passed them. Quite spectacularly, in fact. I’m beginning to wonder if you’ll regret it in the days to come.”

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
>  **Edited |** December 31st, 2020 for grammar, spelling, and minor details. 
> 
> —
> 
> **Definitions |**
> 
> _[seiza](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiza) (正座)_ | a formal sitting posture the Japanese use in times of seriousness (like when they are in deep doo-doo). Legs are bent under the body so one sits on their heels. Prolonged periods of seiza result in pins and needles.
> 
>  _Therianthrope_ | mentioned last chapter, briefly. Translation of 獣人. The direct translation is ‘beast-man’ or ‘beast-person,’ but the Japanese Wikipedia translates it as Therianthrope, which also sounds better.
> 
>  _Ruggie’s speaking style_ | he uses a slightly less proper ‘polite speech’ that is common for young men in Japan, tacking on the ‘polite modifier’ -ssu sometimes as an afterthought to the ends of his sentences. He sometimes calls Yuu (and his opponents) お間抜けさん (o-manuke-san) which is a playful sort of way to call someone dumb.
> 
>  _koebi-chan (小エビちゃん)_ | literally "small shrimp", with an [affectionate suffix](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_honorifics#Chan) that Floyd employs for those younger than him (and Vil, who he calls Betta-chan-senpai). Floyd's nickname for Yuu. Note the "small" (小) modifier which isn’t part of the original animal name. To date, none of his other nicknames have a modifier the same way he refers to the player character. (He calls Ruggie 小判鮫 [koban’zame] which means remora but THAT ‘ko’ is already part of its common name.)
> 
>  _Floyd’s laugh_ | it took me a while to settle on the spelling for this. [Here](https://youtu.be/38opcMC9ivE?t=29) is the way he laughs (listen for around 9 seconds?). "A-ha" is a Norwegian band, so I ended up with "A _ha_ "!
> 
>  _small fish (雑魚, zako)_ | the insult Floyd uses against Yuu. It’s impossible to translate, but this insult is a little stronger than just calling someone a ‘small fry’. It’s got a really condescending vibe to it and is often used when delinquents pick fights.
> 
>  _black company (ブラック企業)_ | a type of business in Japan (dwindling, but still very present) that socially pressures its workers into unreasonable hours of overtime, harassment from superiors, etc. To Yuu’s surprise, Mostro Lounge is NOT this.
> 
>  _legal age_ | because of the confusing differences in legal age for drinking across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, I haven’t specified it yet. One is legal to drink in the Harry Potter world at 17, so I might make it 18 here. Azul would never pass up an opportunity to earn money even through alcohol, though he wouldn’t sell to minors.
> 
> —
> 
> Before I am lynched for making the most popular character (in Japan at least) in Twisted Wonderland unfriendly (understatement) towards Yuu, listen to my excuses! Also, you won't get the next chapter if I die now! So please don’t kill me! He nearly strangled Yuu and Grim when he first met them in Episode 3 (at least Grim was very scared). Plus, Yuu herself keeps provoking him… Don’t worry, there are a LOT of proper? story? reasons why the two of them don’t exactly like each other right now—more later. But I’m sure that the intelligent people reading this story can figure some of them out without me expounding needlessly on it.
> 
> (Who else DIED reading the second part of the Hallowe'en event when Floyd and Jade interacted with the little girl??? 😇😇😇)
> 
> —
> 
>  **Concerning nicknames |** Thank you to everyone for their valuable opinions! I decided to keep in nicknames Floyd uses sometimes and translate them in the notes for authenticity, although there will be times when the English equivalent is used. My priority is making it (1) readable and (2) true to his character. Because some of the nicknames he has are frankly ridiculous in English, it'll break immersion like nothing else. Here is a good example: Floyd calls Trein "Aka'ika-sensei". Do you know what that is in English? Professor [Neon Flying Squid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_flying_squid). I'm not strong enough to keep a straight face while writing that, okay?
> 
> —
> 
> Thank you for reading as always! And this huge Notes section, too. Please let me know what you thought below. I welcome any and all comments greedily!
> 
> —


	8. A Crime Without a Criminal.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuu becomes aware of a string of injuries affecting NRC students as each dorm’s athletes prepare for the annual Magift tournament in October.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
> 🍫🍬🍭🎃👻🦇 [Happy Hallowe'en!](https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm37724729) 🍫🍬🍭🎃👻🦇
> 
> Okay, first of all, you HAVE to watch [this short video](https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm37731408). It’s everything I could have wanted in a Twisted Hallowe’en show—and suits the tone of this story (currently) quite nicely! Trust me. You’ll love it, it’s SO good I put it on repeat while editing this chapter and then just kept staring instead. Gosh, people who love Twisted Wonderland are so talented.
> 
> —
> 
> My treat to you is this chapter since I can't physically hand you all candy... So please enjoy the last day of TwistOBer! BOO!
> 
> —

—

When Riddle and Trey arrived outside Ramshackle Dorm around noon on Saturday, Yuu and Grim had given up their game of Magical Shift against the Ghosts and were rolling on the grass in a fit of laughter.

Mostro Lounge’s first shift had taken it out of her—the second she’d arrived back at Ramshackle, Yuu had fallen over onto the huge bed and conked out for a good nine hours. As a result, when Grim woke her up the next day, whining about wanting to play Magical Shift for the tournament, she was energetic enough to suggest a one-on-one match with a flying disc generously provided by the Ghosts in the old building. (Yuu didn’t ask how they found it. There were things you didn’t ask Ghosts.)

As the only other ‘dorm-mates’ she had, Yuu tended to chat the most with the Ghosts when they saw fit to materialise out from nothingness. She had always enjoyed speaking with those who were more experienced and knowledgeable than she, and the Ghosts had decades and decades (both living and…not) of both that was endlessly interesting to her. Grim himself tolerated their presence in Ramshackle well enough, but Yuu actively sought them out for conversation. It was this way that she finally learned the rules and regulations of Magift.

According to the host of spectres, several of whom were allegedly famous Magift players back when they lived, its disc was enchanted—much like a Snitch—to float by itself. Under their instruction, Yuu activated what looked like a simple Frisbee by touching it and it burst into a ball of red flame, floating up into the air.

“The fire doesn’t hurt, don’t worry,” one ghost assured.

“It’s just for show, so it’s not even fire,” Another one laughed.

Grim immediately dove in from the side and swiped the disc from her fingers. “It’s mine now!”

“Oh, you’re on,” Yuu laughed, whipping out her wand. “Get back here!”

—

**CHAPTER EIGHT | A Crime Without a Criminal.**

—

Yuu was never good at physical activity, and her grades here were being tugged down only by the Flying and strength building classes. But Grim could not match her size, no matter how adept he was at twisting through her fingers, and he had given her permission to use her magic in return for his.

Still, the game lasted quite a bit longer than she’d expected, because none of them could put the disc through each other’s opposing goal (which was a pile of sticks fashioned into a makeshift triangle) due to how silly they were being with their spells. Eventually Yuu’s misfired Charm turned Grim’s tail into a curled spring, sending him bouncing straight into her stomach and rolling them across the browning grass several times.

Yuu lay on the ground in stunned silence before Grim hiccupped and then they were both laughing. She could barely undo the Charm on his tail, her fingers were shaking so hard; lightheaded, she gathered Grim into her arms and rolled around on the grass to try and get her composure back. Both of them kept sending the other back into giggles until her stomach ached.

“What on earth are you two _doing_?”

The commanding tone in that voice could only belong to Riddle. Yuu rolled onto her back, squinting into the dry autumn day as he and Trey appeared in her line of vision.

Trey caught sight of the aimlessly floating Magical Shift disc and laughed, bending down and stretching out a hand. “I see you two were learning to play.”

“Grim was,” she wheezed, “Insistent.”

For a pâtissier’s son, Trey was a lot stronger than she had anticipated; without much effort, he tugged her upright so that her feet dangled briefly from the ground before she was set down again. Riddle muttered something about having no dignity, but when Trey drew back, he leaned in close and brushed the dry leaves from her hair with an air that reminded her of Headmistress McGonagall.

“What’re you guys doing here?” Grim asked rather rudely, leaping up on her shoulder with practiced ease. Yuu swayed briefly under his weight.

Riddle shot him a glare for his cheek but let it go. “That’s right. Yuu, do you know how inconvenient it is when I have no means of communication with you?”

“Er…” she scratched her head sheepishly. “Can’t be helped?”

“Hmph. I meant to invite you earlier, but it seems that the letter has not reached your door yet. Very well.” Riddle sighed. “Yuu, how would you like to come with me and Trey to the equestrian club I’m a part of? I was thinking you might like it, since you mentioned earlier how much you liked animals.”

Yuu gaped at him before breaking out into an incredulous smile. “There’s an _equestrian_ club at this school! Yes I want to go, Dorm Head! Please!”

Riddle, pulled along by her cheer, dropped his severe frown for a small grin. “I thought you would say that. I’m glad I invited you.”

“Good for you,” Trey commented warmly from behind them.

“Wait a second!” Grim puffed up, pressing a round paw to her cheek to lean dangerously forwards into Riddle’s face. “Yuu’s finally got a free day, so it’s mine! We were gonna practice for the Magift Tournament!”

“Excuse me?” The Dorm Head raised one elegant brow at him. “Since when did Yuu belong to you? As far as I know, you’ve barely known him for a month. And according to the school competition rules, you should know that Ramshackle Dorm doesn’t have enough students to participate in the match.”

“Shut up!” Grim blustered back, “you…thief! Yuu’s mine!”

Riddle jerked backwards in outraged shock. “…Thief!? Why, I—”

“Grim,” sighed Yuu. “…Sorry about him, Dorm Head. One second. Grim. Aren’t you interested in equestrian club? You’ve never been, right?”

Grim, who was clinging to her neck, rubbed his head into the side of her head rather painfully and refused to respond.

Yuu scratched him behind the ears patiently. “We can practice for Magift any time, can’t we? Like tomorrow. But today’s one of the only days that there aren’t designated club activities. Right?”

“I hate it when you’re logical,” Grim growled, “and it was supposed to be just the two of us today.”

“Then think about it. One option is, we could go take up Dorm Head on his kindness and see if there’s enough time to play another game after. Another option is we don’t go. Which option would leave you with less regrets?” Yuu asked him reasonably.

“…I want a tuna can,” Grim sulked. “And we’re redoing the match tomorrow too. Just because you’d sulk about not seeing the horses.”

She would have been fine, but knowing that he’d made the decision for her made her chest feel funny and warm. Yuu squeezed him to her face. He really was a cute Monster. “Thanks, Grim.”

“Hmph. Yeah you better thank me.”

When she looked back up at the two upperclassmen, Riddle was focusing on her face with an almost frightening stare and Trey had raised both eyebrows.

Yuu blinked. “What? Did something happen?”

“Tamer, indeed,” Riddle murmured, peering down at her. “Even without my debt, there is plenty to be studied about you, it seems.”

Trey chuckled. “Transfer here almost looks like Grim’s mother.”

“That’s quite rude to say to a teenage boy, Trey,” Riddle commented mildly.

Yuu refrained from telling him it was okay, since she wasn’t a teenage boy, and followed the two of them up the hill over to NRC’s main castle. She had been apprehensive about going through the mirror, but Riddle reassured her that the stables were located just behind the rise of land where the castle stood. In its shade, there was easy access to running water, and it was close enough to Ramshackle for a walk.

She sighed in relief. “Phew. Mirror travel freaks me out.”

“I keep forgetting you come from a different world,” Trey laughed. “But don’t you travel by mirror there too?”

“As if we’d do something so dangerous,” Yuu grimaced. She refrained from mentioning Floo networks, of which she wasn’t the fondest either.

“I heard from Cater that you can’t even go through a mirror by yourself,” Riddle said disapprovingly.

“Pretty much. If we ever have to travel together, please let me hold your hand,” Yuu said earnestly, “or else I probably won’t make it.”

Riddle blinked.

Trey leaned over her to whisper something that sounded like, “Ace said he’s got no sense of personal space.” Yuu glanced between the two of them curiously, wondering what they were saying as they murmured back and forth.

Grim grumbled something about her being too touchy-feely, but immediately subsided into purring when she absently started to scratch him behind the ears.

“I see,” Riddle said more audibly after responding to Trey in a low voice. He gave her what looked like a rather pitying smile. “Very well, Yuu. Until you get over your phobia, feel free to rely on one of us for Mirror travel. It is an upperclassman’s job to support their fellow students, after all.”

“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” Yuu said gratefully.

The Dorm Head coughed, red rising up past the collar of his athletic uniform. “You’ll get nothing from flattering me. Come on, we’re almost there.”

The stables built of wood and stone stood shaded by the huge castle NRC boasted as its main building. Before the three of them could do much more than approach it, though, a group of students hovering near the stables noticed them and came jogging towards them enthusiastically. From the scarlet of their athletic uniform, they were from Heartslabyul, though some were wearing the black track jacket overtop their shirts in the chill.

Yuu jumped as one red-shirted student came right up to her face. “Hey Dorm Head! Vice Dorm Head! And firstie!”

“Dorm Head! You finally brought the firstie,” a second, taller one approached them at a more sedate pace. The students gathered in a crowd around them, all wearing wide smiles. For some reason the positive expressions were directed mainly at her, which confused Yuu a great deal.

“What the heck is with these guys?” Grim jerked out of his stupor, annoyed. He buried his head under the jacket of her newly acquired athletic uniform, flattening his ears. Yuu made space for him to burrow more securely inside. Grim let nothing disturb his early afternoon naps, whether it was a rowdy student or even Professor Trein. Come to think of it, that might have been why he was dragged into remedial lessons all week. Trein had said something about grading based on attitude in class.

“You lot…” Riddle sighed with the usual strict frown he wore. He crossed his arms and glared them down. “What have I said about not running up and surprising people? What if someone got hurt?”

“Sorry Dorm Head!” said one cheerfully, not at all stymied.

Yuu raised both eyebrows.

“Don’t worry Dorm Head! You know us members of the equestrian club are stronger than that!” A second one bared one upper arm and flexed proudly.

“More importantly, you guys always keep Ramshackle’s cute li’l firstie between you and the Cards,” whined a third, nudging her conspiratorially. “Can’t help if we wanted to meet the kid, can we?”

Riddle spluttered, “I’m not _keeping_ Yuu anywhere!”

The Yuu in question, who was now full-out staring, turned back to Trey and indicated the group. Trey obligingly bent down so she could jog over and whisper in his ear, “What _happened_ this past week!?”

“September passed and October started,” he quipped with his signature easy smile.

“Senpai,” Yuu rolled her eyes.

“It’s a good thing, isn’t it? That Riddle’s finally being accepted by his dorm mates.” Trey glanced past her to the noisy group with his brow furrowed in care and relief. “Since the Overblot, he’s slowly been changing…and they’ve noticed.”

Yuu liked this expression much better than the smile he wore all the time. It was a testament to how fond she was of Trey that she reached out to squeeze his hand. “You look a lot less worried now.”

Trey looked surprised for a moment before he grinned and squeezed back briefly. “Thanks to you. You broke him out of it when we couldn’t.”

She shook her head. “He’s being supported by you and the rest of the Heartslabyul students, so you can really pat yourself on the back once in a while, no matter what Ace says.”

Evidently, the Heartslabyul dorm was recovering in places she couldn’t see. Yuu never really approached the red-bricked castle by herself—usually she was fooling around after school with Ace, Deuce and Grim in places such as the forest behind the Gardens or the library—but for the first time she wondered if she should be sticking close to Riddle instead.

Yuu could not begin to understand the darkness inside of his mind that had been so vicious it had leaked out of his skin in great black globs of magic. Sometimes she dreamed of the Overblot, though. That anguished expression Riddle wore as he screamed at her to leave him alone, the nearly audible _please don’t_ deafeningly silent behind those words. She could not bear that echo, often squeezed the sleeping Grim next to her until she could close her eyes again, but now those thoughts came back with a vengeance. Wasn’t it her responsibility to see if he had really recovered? Just because she’d managed to destroy the Overblot figure behind him didn’t mean his shackles were broken yet.

She wondered what this uncomfortable pressure was in her chest—not anger. This was heavier. Unhappier. Directed not at Riddle, but at herself.

Yuu was brought out of her sinking thoughts when a large warm hand laid over her hair. She looked up in surprise.

Trey smiled down at her, the sunlight crowning his dark green hair with gold to match those eyes. It was an unfamiliar sort of smile. “Transfer,” he said softly, “don’t beat yourself up over it.”

“Beat myself up?” Yuu repeated slowly, tasting those words for the first time on her tongue.

“You’ve done plenty,” Trey assured her. “And wouldn’t it be arrogance to assume that you’re the one who’s responsible for everything? It’s better not to start playing a hero you don’t know.”

Mysteriously, those cryptic words stole the weight in her chest. Yuu took a deep calming breath. “Senpai. Are you maybe a psychologist or something?”

Trey chuckled. “As if cutting lines like these would earn me any patients. Don’t worry. I only study the people I like.”

“Right,” she muttered, then, “Wait. People you—”

“Hey firstie!”

Yuu yelped as one of the Heartslabyul students jogged over and got right in her face, grinning. “He-hello?”

Several more of his compatriots joined him so that Yuu was faced with a wall of friendly faces. Most of them had coloured suits—diamonds, spades, hearts—painted on their faces, but none of them looked familiar. She started preparing for jostling or threats and was nearly surprised into a reflexive leap when hands reached out to pat her on the shoulder, head, back.

“We never got to thank you,” one student explained as Yuu accepted the pats in a bewildered manner. “Cater-senpai told us all about it!”

“Yeah! Whatever happened to the Dorm Head, you were the one to save him along with Trappola and Spade, right?” Another chimed in, grabbing her arm and pumping it up and down vigorously. “Right on, dude!”

“I can’t believe some pipsqueak like this managed to win Dorm Head over!” laughed a third gruffly. “How’d you do it?”

“Oh,” Yuu emitted intelligently. “You’re not angry?”

“Angry?” one said confusedly. “Why’d we be angry?”

“Wasn’t it you who convinced Dorm Head here to remove the stick out of his—”

His friend elbowed him. “Oi, you’re gonna get Offed.”

“Ha ha. Don’t get mad at me, Dorm Head, it was just an expression.”

Riddle approached him and twirled his Pen around his fingers, an unpleasant smile darkening his face. “I suggest you watch your word choice.”

“See?” the tallest one bent down to whisper to her conspiratorially. “A couple weeks ago there’s no way anyone would’ve been able to fool around in front of him.”

“Senpai’s change isn’t necessarily thanks to me,” Yuu protested, not really understanding the situation. “It’s Trey-senpai and Cater-senpai and you guys who made the effort to get closer to him.”

She wondered if they were unaware Riddle had undergone an Overblot. But according to Crowley, Overblots were both rare and dangerous—had he somehow suppressed word going out?

Or were they pretending not to know?

“The one who made that possible was you, kid, so stop acting gross and _modest_ and stuff!” the one who’d gotten elbowed slapped her around the back in a friendly manner, nearly sending her pitching forwards.

“Yeah! Heartslabyul’s got no reason to act mushy on ya. We just owe you one,” another clarified. “But every time we’ve wanted to come talk to you, you’re with one of the Cards, so we never got a chance.”

“Cards,” Yuu repeated. Her vocabulary was at top form today, it seemed.

Riddle sighed and took the opportunity to explain. “You’ve noticed the pattern Trey’s and Cater’s names form,” he looked rather disdainful. “Now that Ace and Deuce have joined the first years, the other students have taken to calling them ‘Cards’ collectively.”

“Wait,” Yuu blinked, “it wasn’t on purpose?”

Trey said dryly, “My sense of humour isn’t as blatant as that.”

“C’mon, the chances of the names Ace, Deuce, Trey and Cater lining up so easily is…” Yuu began. “Not to mention your last names.”

“That’s what I said!” one of the Heartslabyul students nodded eagerly.

“But Cater-senpai was only like, ‘this is gonna hit MagiCam fame! Wanna form a band?’ and none of the others seem to care,” whined another.

Yuu wondered if there were prophecies or magic contained in names in this world. She wouldn’t be surprised.

According to the Heartslabyul students that made up a good chunk of the equestrian club’s regular members, Yuu had become a sort of local hero for her feat in causing Riddle to ‘mellow out’ even if it wasn’t _her_ doing all the work. Yet denials met an iron wall of laughter and goodwill, so she gave up ahead of time to save her effort.

Though Yuu was used to being ignored—and now, hated—she was badly shocked by the positive treatment that she received from Heartslabyul. Unlike how Hogwarts’ students would group around James and Albus Potter in admiration, NRC’s were not so obvious or purely intentioned.

And they still liked her.

A warm welcome was a warm welcome. Yuu was told in no uncertain terms that she could rely on Heartslabyul for help on homework, directions if she got lost, extra food…

Eventually Riddle lost his temper and pulled her apart from the crowd, surprisingly strong for someone not much taller than her. “That’s enough. We’re here to show Yuu around the stables, not for you to mob him.”

“Come on, Dorm Head! Don’t be stingy.”

“Yeah! You and Trey-senpai and Cater-senpai always hog the kid to yourselves!”

“Can’t you lend him to us for a day?”

“Or a week?”

“What about my opinion?” Yuu tried. No one listened.

“Now, now,” Trey said mildly, “if you crowd him too enthusiastically, the transfer’s going to run away.”

“Just ‘cause you’re a pâtissier’s son and can train him with food doesn’t mean—”

“Train!?” she spluttered. “Um, guys, in the first place you don’t need to avoid me just because Ace and Deuce hang out with me. I don’t mind…”

“ _You_ don’t mind,” one muttered.

“Those two first-years are frickin’ scary,” another one grumbled, “and I’m older than them!”

“Deuce-kun nearly took off my head the other day ‘cause I mentioned something about how small you were,” a third told her unhappily. “And I was complimenting you!”

“Oh yeah, Deuce can be a little violent sometimes,” Yuu recalled thoughtfully.

“A _little!?_ That kid brought his Magical Wheel into school grounds and nearly ran me over with it!” spluttered one.

Yuu looked to Riddle for help.

Riddle looked at her exasperatedly but explained, “It’s a wheeled vehicle powered by magic. A form of transportation here. Don’t worry, I confiscated it right away.”

“Don’t even mention Ace,” another one waved his hands animatedly. “That kid is seriously nasty. He’s the kind of guy who mixes half a bottle of salt into the sugar when you accidentally bump into him in the hallway and then blames it on you.”

“That happened to you, didn’t it?”

“Shut up. I never wanna get onto _his_ bad side. Teenage boy my ass.”

“All the Cards are psychos,” finished the tallest student. “I mean they’re fine most of the time, it’s just that we gotta be careful we don’t get on their bad side.”

“You’re pretty brave to say that right in front of me,” Trey raised a brow.

“Sorry.”

“Please don’t murder us.”

Trey laughed. “That’d take too much effort.”

“Trey-kun, you’ve gotten a lot scarier since the whole Dorm Head Over—er, incident, haven’t you?” one of them mentioned weakly.

“Idiot,” another hissed, “he’s just stopped hiding it so much. Do you _want_ to live a peaceful life in this school?”

“I said nothing!”

Yuu thought Trey was probably joking. He wouldn’t be so obvious with his threats, even if he seemed to have shed his reluctance to reveal any thoughts he had since the Overblot. The third year had probably been used to hiding things in Riddle’s favour. After all, it had been his magical performance that had sent Riddle over the edge.

Still, there was a liveliness, a friendliness, a lack of restraint in this crowd of students making jokes with Trey and Riddle that served as the ultimate proof that they were accepted. Part of the dorm for real. Liked, respected—an existence that was good enough to joke with, no matter how much the students called them ‘psychos.’

Yuu’s chest felt light even as the phantom ache of that weight reminded her of its existence. As Riddle tugged her over to the stables to meet the rows of quietly grazing horses, she decided that sticking a little closer to Heartslabyul’s students might be okay.

Even if they kept suggesting for her to transfer dorms.

—

Sunday afternoon marked the beginning of Yuu’s second shift at Mostro Lounge. She’d spent the morning working on the homework due Monday, since yesterday’s adventure had prevented her from doing much of anything at all (including her schoolwork).

Predictably, Yuu had taken to the horses with zeal Saturday, though due to her lack of experience, she rode in front of Riddle the majority of the day. Though their heights were comparatively similar, with Grim napping in a watching Trey’s arms, she relished having the warmth of another human against her back and was loath to try riding on her own.

Riddle, who was an excellent teacher and an even better rider, walked her patiently through the steps; from letting the horse become familiarised with the rider to boosting her up with his two laced hands, he didn’t leave her side the entire time. Yuu’s suspicions were confirmed when he’d explained to her how he enjoyed the view from a horse’s back because he could look down at everything around him. Riddle had flat out refused when one of the other students volunteered to take over riding with her—apparently no one else was good enough.

“Superiority complex,” one of the students riding beside him had whispered to her. Riddle silenced him by lifting his Pen threateningly.

Perhaps it made her a bad person, but Yuu enjoyed it when Riddle was so openly arrogant, eager to look down on others, unapologetically condescending. It was something that made him endearingly human and also meant that he wasn’t hiding within the darkness in his heart if he was displaying it for all to see. He was right, too—the view from the saddle was so much wider than her usual vantage point that her breath was taken away.

The great field behind NRC’s castle looked much less intimidating from this spot. Riddle would probably neutralize anything within a mile’s radius, as according to Crowley, his practical magic performance was unparalleled in his year.

Surprisingly, Trey didn’t ride; several horses shied away from him when he neared, making him the target of teasing by the rest of the club. Trey rubbed his head sheepishly and said something about animals tending to run from him, but after Yuu and Riddle had tired themselves out racing back and forth the fields, he’d taken them back to Heartslabyul where a hearty meal was waiting for them with the rest of the Cards.

Ace and Deuce, who had overslept due to playing video games all night Friday, were outraged that they hadn’t been invited and spent most of the evening heckling her and Grim, who growled back that it had been _his_ day originally. Consequently, Yuu had only reached Ramshackle close to midnight. She walked together with Cater-senpai who’d accompanied her back, as he was eager to check out her dorm again. He’d taken a bunch of snapshots of Ramshackle before leaving, satisfied, to let her crash minutes after she crawled into bed.

Sunday was tough. Her thighs and bottom were sore the next day from a day of riding, but Yuu defaulted to societal fulfilment when she could, so instead of sleeping in, she pushed Grim awake and laboured over her history report before the afternoon shift.

So wrapped up was she in recalling Twisted Wonderland’s history that spanned back to the First Year of Magic, when magical stones had been found initially, that she didn’t even notice where she was going until she nearly walked right into Floyd. Today no one had been near the Employee Entrance; instead, an impressively coloured drawing of a shrimp had been laminated with a laughably large red X painted over it and stuck on the door.

Yuu, who tended to sink too deep in her thoughts to react to her surroundings, hummed at the sign in absent humour before ignoring it altogether. Unfortunately, it was not the only blockade in her way.

“Hey,” Floyd’s tenor could drop unbelievably low when he was irritated.

Yuu blinked out of her musings and craned her neck back. The (infinitesimally) taller of the Leech siblings was leaning coolly against the wall beside the changing room. “Hm? Oh, hello Strangler-senpai.”

_BANG!_

Yuu jumped. Floyd had lifted one unbelievably long leg and kicked the wall beside her, boxing her in. Those cold eyes narrowed even as his smile widened. “Didn’t you see the sign?” he drawled slowly.

“Sign?” Yuu wondered absently if this guy was still going to get taller. “Oh…you mean the shrimp? It was nicely done. Did you draw it?”

“Jade gave me the idea. …That’s not it!” Floyd bared his sharp teeth at her. “No shrimps allowed! That means you, Koebi-chan. So get outta here!”

“But doesn’t Ashengrotto-senpai’s rules supersede yours?” she pointed out, examining the gleaming points warily. “I’m just here to work, you know.”

None of them mentioned the fact that she was human—not a shrimp. By now, Yuu had learned to choose her battles.

“Azul could care less whether you live or die,” Floyd snorted, “and it’s not like you’re useful here anyway. Now be a good little prey and scuttle off.”

“Can’t do that,” Yuu said cheerfully. “Unless you’re willing to fund me fifty thousand Madols a month for living expenses. Then I’ll think about it.”

“Look he~re,” Floyd dragged out the end of his sentence lazily, but his eyes were gleaming with that cold inhuman light again. “Koebi-chan, you seriously missing a few screws? You instigating me like this can only mean you _wanna_ get strangled, ri~ght?”

“Not really,” Yuu replied promptly. “Though I am pretty ignorant about Mermen. Ashengrotto-senpai told me most of the Octavinelle students are Merfolk…Mermen of some sort, so there must be something about me that doesn’t agree with your delicate sensibilities.”

Floyd laughed incredulously. “Small fry,” he called her in that scarily gentle voice, “shall I teach you how to show respect to your upperclassman _personally_?”

“Floyd,” Jade poked his head out from the kitchen, “Where did you put the— _oya_. If it isn’t Mister Directing Student. Early as ever, I see.”

Yuu flashed him a peace sign over Floyd’s shoulder. “Good afternoon senpai. You look dashing as usual.”

“I’m flattered,” Jade lowered his head, smile widening.

Floyd growled, “Oi. What’s with this difference in attitude.”

“Why, senpai,” Yuu pressed a hand to her chest incredulously, “weren’t you the one who told me to show respect to my upperclassmen? I was just following your advice.”

“Hey Jade. We’re gonna need a new hire,” Floyd said manically, reaching for her throat.

“First you’re going to find the sea spice powder,” Jade pulled him upright by the collar without a change in expression just as Floyd’s fingers brushed her neck. “It was you who misplaced it yesterday, was it not?”

“Why are you _protecting_ that small fry,” the taller Leech whined, letting himself be dragged backwards into the kitchen. “He’s _impertinent_!”

“I thought you liked rare objects?” Jade’s voice faded as he ducked into the kitchen. “The Directing Student comes from a separate world—isn’t that the height of unusualness?”

“You’re the one who likes weird objects!” Floyd countered.

“Not an object,” Yuu sang under her breath.

“And that li’l shrimp’s not even that special. He looks so normal and… _weak_ and…” Floyd’s complaints faded into silence as the door closed behind them.

Yuu stuck her tongue out at the closed door and headed into the locker room to change. This openly dangerous Leech twin was the night to the friendly Heartslabyul students’ day. She still wasn’t quite sure what he had against her, but Floyd Leech was probably going to murder her in her sleep one stormy night.

Sunday afternoon was much quieter than the bustle of Friday’s crowded hall in Mostro Lounge. Yuu helped Jade with the afternoon kitchen prep while Floyd sulked off somewhere—according to his brother, he tended to skip work when he didn’t feel up to it. When Yuu asked dubiously if that was acceptable, Jade widened his ever-present smile and told her that Floyd’s genius was worth just that much.

“But why does he hate me so much?” she wondered, stifling a yawn. It seemed that yesterday’s exercise had taken a toll on her.

Behind his polished wood desk, Azul flicked a glance at her before turning back to his stack of parchment. “You really can’t guess?”

Yuu, who was squinting at the gigantic gold-leaved wheel hung on the wall behind the VIP room’s office chair, shook her head. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Your attitude towards him says otherwise.”

“Hey, he choked me first,” Yuu said mildly. “I’m not a saint. If you expect me to just forgive him for no reason, you’re talking to the wrong person.”

“No one asked you to forgive him.” Azul scanned a curling page of parchment with a rather evil-looking smile and set it to the side before shooting her an exasperated glance over his thin lenses. “But isn’t it common sense _not_ to instigate him more? He’s obviously stronger than you and you can’t even use magic. I can’t believe I have to spell this out for you, but Yuu-san, even in your world it should be simple to just keep your mouth shut and apologise when necessary.”

“You sure like to rant, Ashengrotto-senpai,” Yuu cocked her head at him, swinging her legs back and forth as she perched on the arm of the black leather sofa. “Do you enjoy hearing the sound of your voice that much?”

“That’s the part of you I’m talking about,” Azul smiled sickly sweet at her. “One more word and I’ll be docking your pay.”

“I sincerely apologise for my thoughtless actions,” Yuu snapped out smartly, sitting up ramrod straight. Sometimes she tended to be a little _too_ blunt.

Azul sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose under his glasses with one white glove. Even that simple movement modelled a frame cut from a movie; with his artfully styled hair and elegant, dangerously expensive suit, the Dorm Head looked just like the young don of a famiglia ‘tidying up’ his affairs.

“Honestly,” he muttered, irritated. “I can’t believe someone this clueless has managed to survive a month at NRC. Just that mouth should put you out of commission when a more sensitive member of the community snaps, you know. And of all people you could have gotten on your bad side, you angered Floyd. _Floyd Leech!_ Do you know how hard it is to control that merman already? He’s already moodier than a teenage girl and it’s bad enough that you look so small and unimpressive. Even if Jade seems kind of interested in you like a particularly grotesque museum exhibit, he’ll get tired quickly and then you might really be strangled to death. I’m being unbelievably kind as you employer when I advise you to abandon whatever responsibilities you have when that happens and _run_ because…”

Yuu’s eyes glazed over as Azul continued on his diatribe. She had the feeling he wasn’t even speaking to her anymore; though the muttering continued, he had begun to write neatly on another long sheet of parchment. Azul seemed to have a flair for appearances—he could have used paper, since in this world, paper was the main instrument for writing, but she could admit that the yellowing curls of parchment felt more familiar as a resident of Hogwarts (which didn’t even have electricity).

Azul had called her in here during a lull in the dinner hour to explain to her the detailed job description, wages, and hours her position would entail. She supposed that she had _finally_ managed to convince him that she was here for work and not some other nefarious purpose by the end of her first shift.

Yuu couldn’t hear a single strain of music from outside, even though this VIP room (also serving as Azul’s office) was located at the back of the lively Lounge. She wondered if it was soundproofed, then wondered why it would need to be soundproofed, then decided that for her safety it was best not to pursue that line of thought any further.

Judging by the state of this school, Crowley would turn a blind eye to any violence if he didn’t see it happen.

As she waited for Azul to finish whatever he was doing with the stack of paper, Yuu took the opportunity to observe him. Her employer was yet shrouded in mystery, and she’d always been a sucker for secrets.

Even if this mystery was cackling madly to himself as he shuffled sheaves of parchment together.

He seemed to be counting something, gaining momentum enough to mutter a string of numbers by himself. Was he calculating numbers in his head? Yuu peered at the stack of yellow papers on his desk and wondered if it was a trick of the light that they seemed to glow slightly.

Eventually, Azul swept the reorganized documents from his desk, folding them neatly into a drawer before motioning her forward. Yuu obligingly hopped off the far too comfortable couch arm to approach the opposite end of the gleaming desk, receiving the smart black portfolio he swept across to her with a hand.

“I’ve printed out the details in the documents there,” Azul explained as she flipped open the leather cover to examine its contents. “A copy of the employment contract sits inside, together with all of the legal nonsense that you most likely don’t understand since you’re, ah…not from around here.”

Yuu hummed. “Why is this typed out when everything else on your desk was handwritten?”

Azul rolled his eyes at her. “Handwritten contracts are reserved for my general consulting business. These paper contracts adhere to the school rules on campus employment, so they’re mass-produced, mostly. And isn’t type easier to read?”

“But your handwriting is so neat,” Yuu motioned to the drawer. Everything here was so different from wizarding Britain’s contract work. Was there even magic contained in this contract? “I still don’t quite understand this magic technology thing.”

“…Magic technology thing?” Azul’s eyes narrowed in confusion.

“Never mind. Mind if I read the whole thing before I sign it?” Yuu asked absently, retreating to the couch again.

“Please do. How surprising, that a fool like you is at least aware of contract fine print,” Azul sniffed, somehow managing to look down at her despite sitting down.

“I’m not a fool, necessarily,” Yuu mentioned, scanning the first page of the job description (which was, for some reason, in Japanese). “I’m just obedient to my human desires. Curiosity, retribution, hunger, sleep. Et cetera. So I just put those urges ahead of other things like doing the right or safe thing. That makes me a bad guy, I guess, but I used to hide it all under a societally acceptable mask until it backfired.”

“…Hmm.” Azul emitted quietly. But Yuu was too focused on reading to notice if he said anything after that.

The more she read, the more her respect for Azul ramped upwards. For a second-year high school student, the draft was immaculate; each article of her requirements as a student worker were noted clearly (if a little verbosely) with, surprisingly, no fine print. There were a few vaguely worded sections, which Yuu pointed out with a wrinkled nose, but Azul seemed willing enough to modify the text with a wave of his Pen.

The words rearranging themselves on the slightly glowing papers told her that indeed, there was magic contained within the contract.

The article about ‘promising the rest of your four years at NRC to Mostro Lounge if you break anything, fail to work properly, or cancel the contract without sufficient reason’ made Yuu give him such a dry glance that Azul furrowed his silver brow. “Seriously?” she deadpanned. “In the first place, senpai, this is my best prospect for earning a weekly allowance. An article like this just makes you look more like an organized crime syndicate than ever.”

“It’s routine to include that part,” Azul said in clipped tones, “since most students who begin working here seem to quit mysteriously under a week.”

“Huh? Why?” Yuu thought back to her first shift. “There’s nothing shady about this job at all.” Even if Azul acted suspiciously, he seemed to know how to toe the line.

“It’s not the _job_ ,” Azul sighed, but then shook his head and dropped it. “Are you disagreeable to that column?”

“Can you change it to ‘if I try to quit the job without a valid reason’?” she suggested. “Oh, and define _valid_ as Headmaster approved.”

Azul raised both brows in surprise. “Not ‘take it out entirely’?”

“Employees have a responsibility to their post just as the employer has a responsibility to manage,” Yuu shrugged. “If I’m stupid enough to abandon the job without reason then I deserve to get trapped here.”

The silence made her look up. She met a pair of pale blue eyes opened wide in surprise. They really were pretty, the colour of sea-spray before dawn. Yuu thought enviously that she would be glad to possess half the beauty any student at this school wore so casually. Even the teachers were all handsome. Maybe it was a requirement in this world to be good-looking to survive. In that case, she was already screwed, to borrow Ace’s wording.

Azul said slowly, “It seems I have misunderstood you, Yuu-san.”

Yuu had forgotten what they were talking about. “What?”

“About being thoughtless.” The Dorm Head’s smile was slow and considering. “Not that you aren’t, but that way of thinking will keep you alive for a while yet.”

“What kind of thinking?” Yuu frowned.

“That kind,” Azul said. “Never taking anything for granted. Knowing that you’re not entitled to anything. I’m glad you’re not the type of fool who expects things to go well for no reason.”

“Of course not,” Yuu said matter-of-factly. “For people who were never given anything, they know not to expect anything.”

“Indeed,” Azul’s agreement was heavy with understanding. “Well then, Yuu-san. Will you sign your name on the dot, please?”

—

Apparently, her lack of this world’s magic meant that she couldn’t be magically bound to a standard enchanted contract. Azul, who had looked her up (where? She wondered), knew just as much as Crowley did about the whole ‘other world being a magicless world’ thing, bar wizarding Britain, so didn’t even raise a brow when her signature didn’t so much as glow.

“Even if you _were_ bound to this contract in particular, it would only feed me your pitiful magical power should you break the terms,” Azul shrugged, producing a copy of the employer’s contract with his Pen and presenting it to her. “That’s the enchantment I created on this employment contract, anyway. Without any power to give, it’s merely a legally binding piece of paper.”

“Senpai, is there anything you can’t do?” Yuu received the white paper gingerly. “I didn’t even know you could enchant contracts here.”

“Please, everyone can do something like that—you haven’t seen the beginning of my abilities yet,” Azul lifted his nose in the air, looking a little pleased. “Well, since you’re as helpless as a…baby…in this world, any funny business and I can have you down on your knees in a second, physically. No magic is not necessarily a blessing in this case.”

She believed him. Despite his relative politeness, there had to be a reason why both Jade and Floyd (who were the most dangerous people she knew, except maybe Lilia Vanrouge) obeyed him without hesitation.

By the time Yuu had shut her copy of the contract away in her personal locker with the newly received key, most of the dinner crew had left, leaving a heaping pile of dishes that Jade was soaping up by the sink. Floyd was nowhere to be found. Earlier, she’d passed him by on her way to Azul’s VIP room and he’d cracked his knuckles threateningly, getting all up in her face. In comparison to the openly hostile stare, Jade’s identical face looked almost angelic.

“You guys seem to get along well, though,” she mused, turning the knob for cold water with a squeak to begin rinsing the dishes. Yuu had to step on a small stool to reach it properly.

Jade’s brows drew together in a troubled smile. “We _are_ twins.”

“Is he always like that?” she asked him curiously, laying a clean dish into the rack of drying plates and reaching for another. “PMS—er, quick to change his mood? Or is it just me who’s making him angry?”

He laughed. “Why, Mister Directing Student. What do you think?”

The infinitesimally shorter Leech twin (it couldn’t have been more than a centimetre’s difference) was a study in contrasts from his brother. Where Floyd’s restaurant uniform was rumpled and half-buttoned, Jade’s looked freshly ironed down to the stole. Where Jade’s lashes winged upwards and hid his calculative eyes often, Floyd’s drooped at the edges to give him the impression of a friendly smiling countenance. Floyd eschewed gloves completely and his dress slacks were worn pulled up high to expose a pair of frankly hilarious looking wavy purple socks, while Jade’s covered the tops of his wingtip brogues to conceal any sign he was even _wearing_ socks.

Yet they still had the same nearly translucent pale skin, the same lock of black hair that framed opposite sides of their faces, the same looming height, the same unexplainable coldness in their beauty that reminded Yuu of Victoire Weasley’s mother, Fleur, who was a quarter-Veela. The similarities far outnumbered differences in the twins’ appearances.

Yuu had never seen identical twins—though she wasn’t sure if Jade and Floyd were—so she didn’t know how they behaved, if they got along. But when they stood together Floyd was eager to be in some sort of contact with his brother. Perhaps it was in the moodier Leech’s personality to be touchy-feely, as he’d leaned on Azul until the latter shoved him off on Friday, but Yuu, whose need for physical contact had extended to include Riddle yesterday, wasn’t one to talk.

Either way Floyd seemed to complete Jade and vice versa. They ‘got along’—they were closer than she’d ever seen anyone else.

 _“My pa never really got over his twin’s…you know,”_ Fred II had mumbled to her one day, huddled against the cold in the line to Honeydukes. _“I don’t really get it, but apparently it’s like having half of yourself ripped apart. The wound never seals up._ ”

“Must be nice to have a sibling,” Yuu mumbled thoughtfully.

Jade had better hearing than she expected. He turned his face towards her, blinking those heterochromatic eyes slowly. “…That is,” he murmured back, “the first time anyone has said so.”

“Really?” she found that hard to believe.

“Usually, I am given condolences for having to pick up after Floyd all the time.” He made an exaggeratedly rueful sigh.

“But you don’t,” Yuu wrinkled her brow.

“Pardon?”

“You don’t pick up after him. Er, at least not that I’ve seen. Sometimes you encourage him to do something else—” like earlier today, when Jade had saved her from being strangled a second time, “—but if he didn’t want to, I doubt it would have worked. Anyway, you seem to egg him on more than you pull him back.”

“True.” Jade’s smile widened. “But isn’t it fun to watch the way Floyd lives? He never does anything he doesn’t want to. It never gets old.”

“Must be nice,” she repeated, beginning to rinse out a clay pot. “Someone once told me that twins can complete each other’s missing parts. Not that there’s anything missing from you, but watching someone express your feelings without you having to sounds pretty luxurious.”

“When you put it that way, I am indeed lucky,” Jade said slowly. “I’d never thought about it that way before. …Are you an only child, Mister Directing Student?”

“Yes sir.” And probably an accident, at that. “Growing up beside a sibling sounds fun.”

“Oh…it is.” When Jade smiled, the barest hint of a sharp tooth caught the light. “The possibilities are endless.”

“But I wonder why your twin hates me,” she pondered, deciding not to chase that line of thought any further lest it should swallow her whole. “According to Ashengrotto-senpai it’s because I don’t behave submissively.”

“You don’t agree?”

“I have a feeling that if I _did_ behave submissively, he’d crush me for being a coward,” Yuu said dryly.

“An astounding hypothesis,” Jade chuckled merrily. “You are indeed correct, though Azul’s advice is sound for surviving in Octavinelle.”

“I figured that you would understand your brother best,” she grinned back. “How about it, Leech-senpai? Are you willing to reveal some pearls of knowledge or do you dislike me just as much as he does?”

“Dis _like_ you,” Jade looked taken aback. “Why, I never, Mister Directing Student. You are an anomaly among anomalies. A non-existent student record, an inability to perform magic, a hometown from _another world_ —and the foolhardy resilience to walk right into the jaws of Azul’s lair looking for petty change. How on earth could I hate someone like you, who is so, so interesting?”

Yuu had not been expecting the fervour in his voice and gaped at him unattractively. “…Those are all circumstances surrounding me. Not me,” she managed after a moment, “ _I’m_ not impressive—wait a second, you know I don’t have a student record?”

“My mouth slipped,” Jade said smoothly. “And you are plenty interesting yourself. In our few meetings, it is evident to me that the headmaster did not keep you here for no reason, not the least of which lies in your delightfully dry wit.”

Briefly, she wondered how on earth he had access to the student records and then gave up. Yuu, who was not used to being _praised_ , even if it was by someone who was regarding her as a particularly surprising science experiment, felt embarrassment rise in her cheeks. “Um…anyway,” she coughed. “You may think I’m interesting, but your brother only thinks I’m annoying.”

“Why don’t you ask him why?” Jade said rather carelessly, passing her the next soapy bowl. “Even if we are twins, I don’t know _everything_ about my brother, you know.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Yuu muttered under her breath, “and I was trying to be roundabout in asking if you had a hand in provoking him.”

Jade’s soapy hand stilled momentarily, his fingers just as long as Floyd’s as they curled around a sponge. “… _Oya_?”

“Since you’re better at wordplay than I am, I couldn’t manage to get an answer out of you, so I’ve decided to ask straight,” Yuu explained, her calm voice accompanied by the hiss of the water-jet raining upon the elegantly conch-shaped bowl in her fingers. “Are you in on the whole inciting Strangler-senpai to try and get me to quit?”

“And why on earth would you think so?” Jade’s eyebrows drew together in a troubled smile. “Have I not been nothing short of polite to you?”

“Yeah, but he told me this morning that the shrimp sign was your idea,” she retaliated. “And somehow I get the feeling the two of you have very similar thinking patterns.”

“Even though we behave so differently?”

“But you don’t?” Yuu scrunched up her nose. “Sure, you use polite speech and Strangler-senpai doesn’t. But otherwise you have the same sort of…aura about you. Of sadism or something. Just wearing a different mask.”

Jade threw back his head and laughed, exposing those razor-sharp teeth. Yuu leapt into the air, nearly dropping her bowl, and stared at him incredulously. _Damn_ , she thought, _those teeth are sharper than the knives he uses._

“It’s been a while since I’ve heard that,” Recovering, he smiled his usual polite smile at her, those turquoise brows still drawn close in a parody of sadness. “How troubling, Mister Directing Student. I only want to be of help.”

Yuu noticed then that Jade Leech was the second natural liar she had met at Night Raven College. His only difference with Trey was that he didn’t seem very motivated to hide it.

She despaired. Was there a single decent person in this entire school?

—

With the addition of a part-time job to her schoolwork, Yuu found Monday even tougher than usual to sit through. The classes she liked so much faded into a lullaby of Professor Trein’s droning and her body ached mercilessly from standing and from Saturday’s episode at the stables. Grim, who was usually asleep during classes, made it even harder for her to keep her eyes open with his steady breathing.

Yuu gave up at lunchtime, plunked herself between Ace and Deuce, and unapologetically used the former as a pillow. Ace complained about it for a good five minutes, but he was softer than the (former) teenage delinquent Deuce, so she ignored him until he started to steal her lunch and spent a blissful half hour in dreamland.

It was, surprisingly, a passing Trey who woke her up at the end of lunch hour. “I don’t know if being able to sleep anywhere is an ability you should nurture,” he said, peering down at the three first-years plus a sated Grim with a strange sort of grin as she rubbed her eyes and tried to worm straight through Ace’s blazer.

Her friend slapped her upside the head. “Ow, you moron!”

“I’m _tired_ ,” she whined.

“Weak,” Deuce shook his head disapprovingly.

Grim gave her a rather disgusted look that told her it was all her fault for taking up a part-time job. Yuu stuck her tongue out at him in response.

Trey’s comment reminded her of the morning after she’d transferred in, when Kalim had advised her so cheerfully not to sleep in the cafeteria. Still, Yuu didn’t regret her nap, since it probably saved her from an alchemy experiment explosion that afternoon. As it was, she slogged through the rest of her classes trying hard to concentrate.

After school found the Monster and Directing Student alone as Ace and Deuce left for club activities, which were beginning to enter full swing. Yuu didn’t have a shift today and she was starting to flag again, so she and an already napping Grim aimed straight for the Botanical Gardens. By now, she had fallen for the quiet warmth within the temperate zone that combated October’s deepening chill. A perfect spot for a nap. No wonder why Leona always skipped classes to sleep here.

Today, Ruggie wasn’t around, which was no great surprise. The hyena Therianthrope loathed staying still, wasting time, and useless activities, so he was probably somewhere doing something profitable that she couldn’t muster up the energy to guess at. Yuu entered the clearing where Leona was curled up—he didn’t even flick an ear at her—before she settled down on the other end, hugged Grim to her firmly, and drifted blissfully out of consciousness.

Her second nap lasted until Grim wormed out of her embrace and smacked her nose. “Hey,” he hissed at her in the tiniest voice she’d ever heard from him, “there’s a _predator_ sleeping on the other side of the clearing.”

Yuu pulled him to her and snuggled sleepily into the white patch of softness under his chin, breathing in the smell of his fur. The Monster put up with her briefly; by now, he was probably used to her inordinate need to be in contact with him when she was asleep. Still, he was never patient, so only a minute of dozing was afforded her before a second smack on her cheek brought her back to the afternoon green of the temperate zone.

Grim, who seemed unusually quiet, jabbed a round paw in the direction of the sleeping Leona with bulging eyes. His gaze demanded them to leave.

At least an hour must have passed—Yuu’s mind felt more-or-less clear. She gathered him up and left the clearing silently. Surprisingly, Grim waited until she’d left the indoor gardens entirely, the door hissing shut behind them, before he finally exploded, “Yuu! Why were you sleeping in the nest of a _predator_!?”

Yuu blinked at him, yawning. “Predator?”

“That Therianthrope that arrived before we woke up,” Grim explained, settling down on her shoulder as she started the trek back to Ramshackle. “…Wait, you’re a weak human. Couldn’t you smell it?”

Grim seemed to be under the misunderstanding that Leona had arrived after her, but Yuu let it pass. “Smell what?”

“Ugh…that predator is nothing to sniff at,” Grim’s ears drooped. “His scent was marked all over the place. Yuu, is this where you’ve been napping? It smells sorta familiar. Like you did last week, when I was trapped in that remedial hell.”

Yuu hadn’t been napping here, just talking, but she nodded, since it was close enough.

“You can’t,” Grim told her urgently. “That…whoever that is, that predator is dangerous. Do you know how many years it took off my life when I woke up?”

Leona was dangerous? “Why is he scary?” Yuu asked curiously.

“He smells…I don’t know… _threatening._ Like a big fish.”

“I thought you ate fish.”

“Not like that! He smells like a big animal! The top of a food chain. Someone…” Grim hesitated. “Someone who doesn’t need claws to rip you into pieces.”

Yuu was ready to press him with more questions, but the two of them were distracted from their conversation when they crested a hill and were met with the sprinting figures of Ace and Deuce in their athletic uniforms, both heading alarmingly quickly for her.

“What the—!?” Grim sputtered.

“Yuuuuuuuuu!” Ace shouted, pumping his arms.

“Don’t move!” Deuce bellowed.

“Oh hell no,” Grim muttered, escaping her shoulder.

Yuu winced, but she stood obediently still. A moment later Ace was upon her—he sunk low, grabbed her around the calves, and lifted her bodily into the air. Deuce, who wasn’t far behind, used the momentum to sling her onto his back. She grabbed him around the shoulders in the chaos.

“Back to Heartslabyul,” Ace panted, “c’mon!”

“What the hell is going on!?” Yuu yelled out as he snatched Grim up by the collar and Deuce started to run back the way they came.

“Shut up and get kidnapped!” Ace snapped back.

Deuce, who was saving his energy for the weight of one more person piled on top of him, managed his breathing and didn’t deign to answer. Yuu was still sore from Saturday, but she sighed, arranged herself more securely on Deuce’s back, and braced herself for the incoming Mirror travel.

It was not unusual for Ace and Deuce to come sprinting at her after their club activities were over, whether it was because they had been chased out for painting the fences with obscene imagery or because they (usually Ace) had poured water on an upperclassman in retaliation for whatever insult they’d caught. Yuu had long since gotten used to being wrapped up in their schemes. Mostly, it was Ace’s fault and Deuce was just along for the ride, but any physical fighting was always due to the latter. (Ace tended to avoid physical contact since personal fighting was, in his opinion, ‘lame’ and ‘stuffy’.) Yuu had lost track of the times she’d had to apologise to an incensed team captain or an amused-looking Professor Vargas for the actions of her two worst best friends.

However, Deuce didn’t let her down even as they crossed into Heartslabyul and for the first time, carried her right into the dorm.

Yuu whipped around to look askance at Ace. “What the heck is going on? Seriously!”

Ace shook his head. “Just…” he panted, “hang on.”

So she did, peering eagerly at the red-checked decorations and painted vases clustered with flowers that brightened up the ivory interior of Heartslabyul dorm. Yuu was pretty sure there was an article somewhere in the Queen of Hearts’ 810 rules about not entering another dorm without permission. Still, she was enchanted by the merrily crackling fireplace as they crossed through the lounge, which was heaped full of students grouped on the sofas and tables.

“Hey, it’s the little Directing Student!” one of the members of the equestrian club caught sight of her and waved.

Yuu waved back.

A small cheer arose from the students in the lounge.

“Pipsqueak!”

“Don’t let Ace and Deuce drag you around too much!”

“Look, it’s that Monster. He looks just like my cat.”

“I can’t believe NRC has such a tiny student.”

Grim hissed at them, hackles rising. “I can roast you alive, you know!”

This time the lounge burst into roaring laughter.

Deuce and Ace left them behind without so much as a snarky remark, cutting through the hallways and up the stairs into Heartslabyul’s maze of walkways—Yuu caught the hint and lost her grin, exchanging glances with Grim. It seemed that whatever had happened this time was more serious than she’d anticipated.

A dizzying number of stairs later, Deuce set her down, panting. Yuu fished in her bag for a water bottle and passed it to him. Ace and Deuce tossed it back and forth until it was empty, both looking tired but determined. Deuce was frowning grimly, his aquamarine eyes gleaming with concern and anger; Ace had that wicked smirk narrowing his reddish-brown eyes, but all the same both of them wore the tension tight under their skin.

Yuu knew it was better than to ask, so she hung on to them physically instead. She followed them down this unfamiliar hallway to the second door from the end. Deuce, who had caught his breath, cleared his throat. “Excuse me.”

“Come in,” Trey’s muffled voice came across from the other side.

Past the door was a bedroom slightly smaller than her Ramshackle Dorm’s master room. Resembling the rest of Heartslabyul, the curtains hung around the wood-framed windows and draped luxuriously down a four-poster bed were scarlet. Yuu ignored the huge dresser curved like a heart and the various white-and-red furniture scattered around the room and rushed over to the four-poster, where Trey was relaxing.

“What happened to your leg!?” Yuu blurted out, immediately tripping over Cater, who was sitting at the foot of the bed.

Cater caught her as she tipped over with a laugh, swinging her into the air like a child. “Whoa there, Yuu-chan!”

“Careful,” Trey said mildly, setting down his phone as Cater plunked her beside him. “Next victim’s gonna be you if you don’t pay attention to your surroundings.”

Yuu waved it off impatiently. “Trey-senpai! Did you decide you wanted to ride a horse after all?”

“What?” Cater blinked and then grinned widely. “I sense a story! Hey Yuu-chan…”

“Let’s not,” Trey rolled his eyes. “Transfer, don’t encourage him.”

“Trey-senpai,” Yuu repeated earnestly, pointing at his leg, which was encased in a white cast. “What happened?”

The third year read the anxiety in her face and glanced over her head at Ace, Deuce, and a confused-looking Grim. “You guys didn’t tell them anything?”

“Didn’t have any time.” Ace glared back sullenly. “If we would’ve taken it any slower, I’d have gotten hit with Yuu’s question torture!”

“I thought that Yuu would want to see you right away,” Deuce explained. “Plus, it’s not like we know anything either.”

“I suppose we couldn’t expect more from the A-Deuce combo,” Cater shrugged lightly in his year-mate’s direction.

“A-Deuce!?” Deuce spluttered.

“What the heck’s with that name?” Ace squinted at Cater before he waved it off. “Whatever. Trey-senpai, we only saw you being carried in here. What happened to your leg?”

“It’s no big deal.” Trey reached forward to smooth down Yuu’s windswept bangs, his easy smile firmly in place. “I took the wrong step off a flight of stairs, that’s all.”

Ace blew out a breath and collapsed on top of the rug. “Don’t _scare_ us like that!”

“Ace was laughing,” Deuce mentioned, but looked just as relieved. His friend punched him in the shin.

Yuu was not as appeased. “Trey-senpai, how bad is it?”

“Worse than it could’ve been,” Trey said sheepishly, “I didn’t manage to fall the right way and ended up doing in my right ankle. It’s not broken, but there might be a fracture or avulsion. Anyway, I’m stuck with crutches for the time being.”

“I’ll carry your things for you then,” she volunteered immediately. “Until you get better, we can walk together to classes.”

“Aww, Yuu-chan is such a cute underclassman!” Cater teased her.

“But it sounds kind of serious,” Deuce pressed a glove to his mouth, furrowing a brow. “How long do you think it’s going to take to recover?”

“A few weeks?” Trey sighed. “This year’s Magift Tourney is probably going to end up with me on the side-lines.”

“Senpai, you play Magift?” Yuu blinked in surprise.

“He’s one of Heartslabyul’s strongest regulars,” Cater winked at her. “Along with yours truly, of course!”

“Ouch,” Grim hopped up on top of her head, draping himself over her hair comfortably. “Too bad for you, huh? Glasses. I’d give you a can of tuna if I had one.”

Yuu thought for a minute before she pulled out her wand from her sleeve and pointed it at his ankle. “ _Episkey!_ ”

Trey jerked upright as the cast glowed. “Whoa! Stop that, transfer, it tickles!”

“Tickles?” Yuu looked down at her wand. “I knew I wasn’t very good with healing charms but…”

It hadn’t worked at all?

“You guys have healing magic?” Ace pushed himself over and squeezed in on her other side, peering down at the pale yew curiously. “We usually only use potions. Healing magic exists, but it’s usually faster to just drink a potion instead.”

“Right! Won’t you get better right away if you drink a potion?” Yuu perked up, dismissing her failed Charm for now. “I’ll go find Professor Crewel and we can brew a…”

“About that,” Cater put in. “I went and asked him already, but it looks like these things get tricky for small bones like in a wrist or ankle. Plus, it doesn’t seem like he’s broken anything, so a potion to join bones would probably do something funny to his leg if we’re not careful.”

“It’s easier to just let it heal naturally,” Trey shrugged, not seeming too bothered.

Cater eyed him without mercy. “Spare me,” he said, “We’re already pressed for time now that you’re out of the line, but reselecting players is going to eat up even more! If you have any idea of how important your defensive magic is then you would’ve been more careful, Trey-kun.”

Ace leapt upright, exchanging excited glances with Deuce. The two of them put their heads together and started whispering.

“If I were better at spells, I could have just cured it,” Yuu muttered, feeling rather angry? Rather…something at herself. Why had she focused on the Charms she was good at instead of trying to overcome her weaknesses?

“Like I said, don’t beat yourself up over it, transfer,” Trey brought her out of her self-deprecating thought spiral with a shake of his head. “We talked about this, right? Acting like a hero is nothing but empty pride in this school.”

“I don’t care if it meant you wouldn’t have been hurt,” Yuu caught his hand miserably. “Who cares about pride or heroes or whatever.”

There was a beat of silence.

“…Hey, Trey-kun,” Cater said over her head. “Can we keep him?”

“Haven’t I told you I’m working on it?” Trey muttered back, letting her hang onto his fingers.

“I’m coming in,” Riddle’s voice followed a couple of firm knocks at the door. When he pushed it open to the five visitors, the frown forming a line between his brows deepened severely. “What on earth are all of you doing in here?”

Grim let out a yelp and started to worm his way under her uniform blazer. “ _Funa_!? It’s that bad-tempered Riddle!”

“Bad-tempered…” Riddle sighed. “You know as long as you three don’t break the rules, I have no reason to get angry.”

Ace and Deuce laughed nervously.

Riddle glanced over them critically before rubbing his forehead with a glove. Yuu noticed how pale he looked. “Trey,” he said more gently, “How are you doing? Anything you want to eat or drink?”

“Oh, me! I’ll make something,” Yuu started to push herself off the bed. “Hot cocoa or…”

“Yuu-chan, it’s okay!” Cater pulled her back down and rubbed her shoulders soothingly.

“That’s right.” Trey squeezed her fingers back reassuringly. “I’ve had way worse, and it’s just my ankle. You two are such worrywarts.”

Riddle approached them, still frowning. “Yuu, you’ve heard? I do apologise for causing so much trouble.”

Yuu had lost any restraint in physical contact towards Riddle since the weekend, so she reached forward for his hand automatically. “Why are you apologizing, Dorm Head?”

“The truth is, his injury is because of me,” Riddle started.

Ace and Deuce both looked up. “Because of you?” The former repeated.

“There was an after-school meeting concerning the scheduling for this year’s Magift tournament,” Riddle explained, taking Ace’s spot on Yuu’s right side. “We were descending the stairs to head for the practice field after that, but I…I must have taken a wrong step.”

“So Clover-senpai took the fall to protect you,” Deuce said slowly. He turned to Trey with sparkling eyes. “Senpai! That’s so manly of you!”

“But you know,” Trey rolled his eyes, “Riddle’s magical control is legendary. He would have been able to save himself with flight magic, no problem. So honestly, it was just me unnecessarily jumping in and getting hurt by myself. Don’t worry about it, Riddle.”

“But…” Riddle didn’t seem appeased.

“Yuu, c’mere,” Ace beckoned her over.

Yuu, who was staring dolefully at Trey’s casted foot, extracted her fingers from Riddle’s and plodded over to him. “What?”

“Aw, cheer up, you weirdo,” Ace slung an arm around her shoulder and drew her and Deuce in. He lowered his voice as they huddled together. “Listen. Me and Deuce have been seeing a bunch of similar cases happen this week. We’re suspecting this wasn’t an accident.”

“…!” Yuu sucked in a breath. Within her blazer, Grim popped his head out interestedly.

“The truth is, the other day Headmaster Crowley came asking us to research what was going on,” Deuce told her in an undertone. “Since we owe him for not expelling us…Plus the whole Overblot incident.”

“Since October started, people have been getting injured left and right. You remember that huge explosion in the alchemy classroom the other day?” Ace prompted.

Yuu winced, recalling Professor Crewel’s shouting piercing into the hallway as the three of them returned from Vargas’ outdoor lesson. “Man, I pity the poor people in Second Year Class D.”

“And that’s not it—we saw a third-year Pomefiore student tumble down the stairs on our way back from remedials almost a week ago,” Deuce explained lowly. “Anyway, we both think it’s absolutely impossible for someone like Clover-senpai to get injured from a simple fall down the stairs, even if he was protecting Dorm Head.”

“So you’re suspecting something else,” Yuu finished for him.

“Isn’t everyone just overly excited for the Magift tourney in a few weeks though?” Grim pointed out. “The whole school’s practically bursting at the seams.”

“We thought so too, at the beginning. But get this,” Ace lowered his voice even further. “Every single victim was slated to enter the Magift tournament.”

The six of them were kicked out of the room shortly after by, surprisingly, Cater, who had managed to cheer up a fretting Riddle along with Trey. As Grim, Ace and Deuce started to mutter among themselves about finding a culprit, Trey waved Yuu back for a moment before she could leave the room with them.

“Cater’s probably got something to tell you guys,” Trey said, casting a shrewd glance at the retreating third year. “Since I don’t expect Riddle to leave this alone. But Transfer, I want you to promise me something.”

“Stay with Rosehearts-senpai?” Yuu guessed. She nodded solemnly. “Don’t worry, senpai, I don’t plan on leaving him alone for a second especially if…”

“No, that’s not it,” Trey laughed, “Cater and the, ah, ‘A-Deuce’ combo can manage that well enough, though I’m grateful for your support.”

“It’s not?” Yuu wrinkled a brow in confusion.

“It’s not,” he confirmed. “I want you to promise me you don’t get in over your head.”

“Me?” she pointed at herself. “What do you mean?”

“We might not have known each other for too long, but from what I saw during Riddle’s Overblot, you tend to disregard your own safety—ignore yourself.” Trey narrowed his ochre eyes at her, for once not smiling. “If anything happens to you, my injury will be the least of your worries.”

“Least of my worries…?”

“Every student that lives in this dorm is good at following rules,” Trey said. “But when one of their own is hurt—well, hopefully you never have to see that happen.”

Yuu tried to comprehend his words. “…Wait a second, I’m not a Heartslabyul—”

“Discretion is the better part of valour,” Trey quoted. “Whatever happens, I’m asking you to put yourself first and stay out of it. Just like you worry about me, we all don’t want to see you hurt. Got it?”

Yuu nodded. She didn’t understand what he was saying, but Yuu liked Trey and he was the one injured right now. Any arguments or confusion she had could wait.

Trey rubbed her head fondly. “Good kid. Go catch up to Cater and them. I bet you he’s got some information for you.”

“I’ll come back to visit you later,” she promised.

Yuu emerged onto the black-and-white checked floor of Hearslabyul’s common lounge, shading her eyes against the sunlight filtering through the balcony window. Now that she had time to look around, she could appreciate the rose-patterned wallpaper etched in vermillion silk and decorated with all sorts of ticking clocks. Picture frames stuffed full of playing cards hung crookedly from the walls, illuminated by small glass lamps and the still-flickering fireplace.

When they’d passed through previously, the lounge had been full; now, it was mostly vacant. Cater waved over at her from his relaxed slump beside Riddle on a scarlet lounge sofa, so Yuu crossed over to the other side of the wide coffee table where Ace, Deuce and Grim were sitting on a loveseat. Without hesitation, she pushed their legs aside to make a tiny spot for herself and squeezed in between them. Ace and Deuce shuffled over for her just barely enough for her to fit.

Cater and Riddle regarded the three of them with bemused smiles as Ace set a gently snoring Grim on her shoulder. “You guys did meet at the beginning of the year, right?” the former checked.

“A little more than a month ago?” Yuu looked to Deuce, who nodded.

“How mysterious,” Riddle murmured, crossing his arms, “The three of you behave like siblings who have been together their whole lives.”

“Who the hell would be siblings with _him_?” Ace made a face over her head at Deuce.

“As if I could stand living in the same household as you,” Deuce sniffed, similarly disgusted.

“Never mind,” Cater said weakly, “I guess it’s just Yuu-chan who’s gluing the two of you together.”

Ace and Deuce got along just fine, in Yuu’s opinion, despite the fights they put on for show. But their conversation wasn’t advancing, so she nudged both her friends on either side of her and tilted her head at Cater. “Trey-senpai said you probably had something to say to us.”

Cater blinked his hazel-green eyes in surprise before breaking out into a grin. “Riddle just said the same thing,” he seemed inordinately entertained. “And here I took all the trouble of leaving his room to talk out here where he wouldn’t hear…”

“Is that a pun?” Yuu mentioned, distracted.

Riddle cleared his throat. “…Anyway. Ace and Deuce were just explaining the task entrusted to them by the Headmaster. About the upshoot in recent accidents involving Magift regulars.”

“Right,” she frowned, “I was wondering about that too. Is there magic that can control another’s movements in this world?”

“Even if there was, it can’t be the reason behind this chain of accidents.” Deuce explained. “Magic usually emits light, right? And it can’t be used too far away from the target.”

“I didn’t feel any spells being cast on me,” Riddle shook his head, “and I had Cater gather information right after Trey’s fall about other such accidents.”

“What a slave driver,” complained Cater fondly. “But I guess I have to pick up some of the slack now that our vice head’s out of commission for a while. Anyway, from what Ace-chan and Deuce-chan have told me—”

“Please don’t call me that,” Deuce muttered.

“—it matches with what I’ve learned, which is!” Cater pointed his extravagantly cased smartphone at them. “Each injured party is not only a Magift player slated for this month’s tourney: they’re all really good! But none of them reported any use of magic on their person.”

“At that time,” Riddle went on, “I didn’t feel anyone push me, and the stairs weren’t crowded enough for me to trip. But there was one moment in which despite not planning to step forwards, my foot seemed to move by itself.”

“We heard a lot of reports like that,” Ace added. “In the infirmary, a dude who fell down the stairs just like Dorm Head told me that his body ‘moved on its own’.”

“Imperius?” Yuu muttered to herself.

Did this world have Unforgiveable Curses?

But if they did exist, Yuu had a hard time believing the students at NRC wouldn’t use them left and right, legality be damned.

“In any case, I’m making the judgement that these events are intentional crimes,” Riddle narrowed his grey eyes, beginning to regain some of the colour in his pale face. Yuu thought it was fitting that this beautiful second year wore authority so well. She’d call him a Queen if he were female. King Riddle?

“So someone’s aiming for the regulars on other Magift teams to reduce their rivals during the actual tourney,” Ace summarized, bringing her out of her nonsense thoughts.

“Not an unusual strategy,” Riddle said, surprisingly even. “And with the worldwide scale of the broadcasts, the results from one day of effort can echo into a player’s future career. In fact, I would say such actions are within expectations.”

“True, but it’s still mysterious how no magic was used on them,” Cater was scrolling through something on his phone absently. “Definitely not your usual culprit. Don’t forget about the kids who got injured during class…if magic was used, I find it hard to believe a professor wouldn’t catch them.”

“Who cares how they did it? After all, we just have to slowly force it out of them after we catch the criminal,” Riddle’s eyes glowed with an unholy anger. “All of you will participate in the hunt together with me. Is that clear?”

He was controlling his breathing with forced calm, but Yuu could tell it was just because Riddle knew how useless venting his anger would be right now. She echoed the others in a smart “Yes, Dorm Head!”

“Finally, some action,” Deuce started cracking his knuckles, that evil grin twisting up the side of his face. “We gotta settle the score for Clover-senpai, after all.”

“Hell yeah,” Ace narrowed his eyes enthusiastically. “The more the merrier, I say. Let’s get this show on the road.”

The rest of them regarded the two first-years curiously. “Why are these two so willing to help?” Riddle asked her, blinking his big grey eyes.

“In this case, it’s going to be for personal benefit,” Yuu guessed.

“Oh, I got it!” Cater pointed his smartphone at them. “I bet you’re aiming for the free positions in the Magift Dorm Team!”

Ace laughed. “Was it that obvious?”

Deuce spluttered unconvincingly. “No, I’d never think something like…! We’re part of the same dorm, so we should help each other out!”

Yuu gave them weird looks. She’d never understand the obsession with Quidditch or Magift or football that drove people insane.

Riddle rolled his eyes. “Well, depending on your performance in the hunt for the criminal, I can take your wishes into consideration.”

Ace and Deuce cheered from either side of her, making Grim grumble in his sleep. Yuu wondered if she should wake him up—but remembered that she wasn’t part of Heartslabyul, so even if Grim wanted to be on the team, it would be impossible.

How dangerous, she admonished herself. You’re Ramshackle. Not Heartslabyul. No matter how much you like it here. No matter how much they clamour for a transfer.

_In the first place, you might not even be in this world for long._

Yuu cleared her throat to distract herself. “So, shall we weave a strategy for looking for the culprit?” she suggested.

“Of course,” Riddle leaned forwards, lacing his hands under his chin. “First of all, I believe it’s best for us to take the offensive. If we wait for the next victim with this little information, it’s going to turn into a war of attrition, especially since we don’t know anything about the culprit.”

“So then we should do something like anticipating the criminal’s moves,” Yuu said thoughtfully. “For example, tailing the next guy who is likely to get attacked and protecting him…or something. Of course, one or two should watch the surroundings from afar to detect any foul play.”

Riddle nodded. “That way, the second anything occurs, we’re able to take the victim into custody and search and destroy…ahem, capture the criminal in the surroundings.”

“A stakeout, huh?” Ace scratched his messy hair thoughtfully. “Should I find a slingshot or something?”

“But how do we decide who to mark?” Deuce leaned in eagerly. “Is there a list of strongest players or something?”

“That’s where Cay-kun comes in!” Cater snapped a wink his way. “I’ve just finished compiling a list of people who have the highest probability to be targeted next—based on their past performance, anyway.”

“Cater-senpai,” Yuu sighed in admiration. “Teach me your ways in clothing creation _and_ information gathering.”

“I’ve shared an album with the three of you via MagiCam’s direct messages,” Cater told the other three, “and Yuu-chan, you can look over someone’s shoulder.”

Deuce pulled his phone out as it buzzed. Yuu leaned her chin on his shoulder as he loaded up the MagiCam app; they both made an impressed noise as an album over a hundred images thick popped up in his DMs. “That’s a lot of information,” Deuce remarked, pulling up the first image of a tall blond wearing the black athletic uniform over a dark indigo shirt and a baseball cap. “Look at all this stuff in the description.”

“Very good,” Riddle didn’t seem surprised as he scanned through the folder. “It’s getting late today, so according to Rule Three Hundred and Forty-six, the daily croquet competition will be held out in the gardens at 5 PM. Tomorrow we begin the hunt. Understood?”

“Yes, Dorm Head,” Yuu echoed the others. “Me and Ace and Deuce will keep an eye out during the day, too.”

“That culprit better watch out,” Ace quipped. “If Deuce gets to him first, there won’t be enough for us to clean up afterwards.”

Riddle regarded the four of them imperiously as they all laughed. “Keep him alive, at least,” he narrowed both eyes. “I still have to exact my revenge over what the uncouth coward did to Trey.”

—

“I can’t tell if this thing is filling up or not,” Yuu dangled the Ghost Camera from a hand, lying on her back in Ramshackle’s largest bedroom. The night outside was blocked by thick, dusty curtains, but Yuu didn’t mind. There were a few lamps glowing in their sockets within her room that she’d used her wand to light, and it wasn’t quite cold enough warrant her summoning a jar of flames by her bedside.

Grim climbed over and sat on her stomach, eliciting a whoosh of air. “That thing you’re always using everywhere? You’re fiddling with it _again_? Don’t waste your time. Nothing ever happens when you click it.”

“But Mister S told me the other day that the memory card inside is some crazy size,” Yuu’s voice strained briefly under his weight. “You’re getting fat, dude. Maybe you should cut down on tuna.”

“Don’t even joke about that,” Grim gave her an offended look. “Eating is one of the greatest joys in life.”

“Yeah…I hadn’t noticed, with you giving me your critics’ impressions on whatever you shove into your mouth every day,” she responded dryly. “Anyway, whenever Ghosts show up to play tricks on us or talk, I usually try snapping a picture—and last week remember we tried with Cater-senpai a bunch of times? And we take pictures with Ace and Deuce and at Heartslabyul too. But I don’t really know how to view the pictures we’ve taken, if I’m being honest.”

“Who cares? Just hand it in to the Headmaster. That’s all he wanted, right? He didn’t say your pictures had to be any good.”

“I got a really good one of Deuce hanging upside down on his broom the other day,” Yuu reminisced, “so I wanted to show you. Also, two nights ago, the Round Ghost made one of the weirdest faces in memory and I managed to catch it.”

“They’re just pictures.”

“Memories, says Headmaster Crowley.”

“What _ever_. You’ve only been here for like a month,” Grim rolled his eyes. “I’m right in front of you, aren’t I? The real-life version of me is way better than how many thousands of pictures you’ve taken of me when I nap.”

“Cuteness equals justice,” Yuu said solemnly, dropping the camera beside her. “And it’s a lot easier to summon Ghosts when I use the Camera. Look!”

She reached around and clicked the shutter. Where nothing had happened during her first uses of it, a brief flash of dim light lit up the air in front of them; momentarily, a thin Ghost poked his head upside down through the ceiling.

“Somethin’ going on?” he asked, top hat remaining impossibly anchored on his head.

“Hey,” Yuu grinned up at him, crossing her hands behind her neck on the pillow. “You guys should really tell us your names sometime. I keep having to refer to you in my head as Thin Ghost, Round Ghost and Big Ghost.”

“…Directing Student, your naming choice is pretty unoriginal,” Thin Ghost remarked, turning right side up. “And us Ghosts aren’t free all the time, you know! Stop clicking that thing, it’s distracting!”

“I thought Ghosts didn’t do much?” Grim squinted up at him. Both living residents of Ramshackle had long since gotten used to the random appearances of the non-living, so he didn’t so much as jump.

“Well, since we technically aren’t among the ranks of the living, we don’t ‘exist’ in the same plane as you creatures…that’s not it!” Thin Ghost made a playful somersault in the air. “We do a _lot_! Before you two bozos came around, we were the terror of NRC, you know.”

“And the _kind_ Headmaster let you stay in this building to make mayhem, huh?” Yuu grinned back. “You’ve really had the run of this place for years, haven’t you.”

“Too bad, this is the Great Grim’s castle now,” her partner said with satisfaction, stretching out on her stomach comfortably.

“We can share,” Yuu corrected.

“As long as you don’t kick us out, anything interesting goes,” Thin Ghost said agreeably.

She considered him. “Though you know, I would have expected you guys to be more suspicious of me. You noticed that I could use magic early on, right?”

Round Ghost emerged halfway through the floor. “Actually, it wasn’t as early as you expected,” he crossed his arms. “Coming in and out of existence means we come in and out of consciousness too. Even dead people don’t have unlimited energy, ya know! Fighting takes it out of us. It’s much easier to…‘stop’ for a while.”

“But it _was_ pretty unnatural for the Lounge here to become sort of liveable in two days,” Thin Ghost nodded pensively.

“And you didn’t tell on me, didn’t suspect me?” Yuu asked curiously. “Didn’t bother me about it?”

“Who cares if it’s interesting?” Big Ghost poked his head through the wall briefly before retreating back and bursting into the room. “Us Ghosts love trouble. Mischief. _Scares_! And you, Directing Student, are a huge wave of all of that the school hasn’t seen in _decades_.”

“Oh…well…” Yuu blinked in surprise. “I suppose when you put it that way, I’m kind of a troublemaker too. That makes us partners in crime?”

“ _My_ partner in crime,” Grim cleared his throat.

“Hoo hoo hoo!” Round Ghost clutched his belly and floated into the air. “That’s rich! I haven’t heard a human asking a ghost to be anything in a hundred years!”

“Have you even been dead that long?” Thin Ghost squinted at him.

“Anyway, people are usually too scared of us to start a conversation, let alone live in a mansion full of us,” Big Ghost put a big cold hand on the space above her head and patted the air a few times. “So don’t worry your li’l head about it, Directing Student. Your _magical_ secret’s safe with us.”

“Not that I get why you’d ever hide it,” Thin Ghost shrugged, “but now, the business of the livin’ ain’t ours, is it? As long as you make it interesting, we’re all for it, kid.”

“Not that you looked very scared,” Round Ghost commented. “Of us being around…or of us blabbing your secret.”

“I figured you wouldn’t tell anyone…since nothing’s happened yet,” Yuu grinned cheekily at them. “I’ve lived with Ghosts before and compared to them, you’re not bad at all. Plus, we’re fellow Ramshackle Dorm students, aren’t we? Isn’t it against code to out your dorm-mates so easily?”

“Dorm-mates don’t take pictures of each other’s scary faces and then try to show their cat,” Round Ghost said through suppressed laughter.

“It was funny.”

“I’m not a _cat_!” Grim protested.

“Anyway, I still don’t know how this thing works…” Yuu picked up the Ghost Camera again. “This world’s full of magical gadgets and stuff and it’s kind of confusing. Back in our world, magic and technology hate each other. So I don’t know how to read the memories and haven’t touched a camera for years…not that non-magic cameras are even used much anymore. I swear I’ve snapped like three hundred pictures already but can’t access a single one.”

“Let me guess. Ninety percent are of Grim-boy sleeping?”

Yuu laughed. “How did you know?”

“I feel like we had those around when we were younger,” squinted Big Ghost. “Couldn’t tell ya how to use it, though. But isn’t it fine if you hand it in to the Headmaster when he asks? Not like it matters the quality of your shots.”

“Grim said the same thing. You guys are so irresponsible,” Yuu rolled her eyes. “Oh well…I don’t really have time to deal with this right now. Maybe I’ll research it after this incident is solved.”

“Incident?” the three Ghosts chorused.

“That’s right!” Grim sat up in excitement. “You better listen up. We think that there’s a _conspiracy_ going on in this school…”

—

Yuu, who was more familiar with the area by the botanical gardens’ forest than anywhere else in NRC (except the library), was assigned the surrounding fields and the gardens as her patrol areas the next day. Grim had taken to the idea of criminal-hunting after she told him the specifics along with the Ghosts last night; he kept pestering Ace to show him the album of Magift players.

Yuu wondered if he wanted to hunt the players or the criminal, but since she was still exhausted from her third shift at Mostro Lounge last night, she waved the three of them off to the athletic fields and the first floor respectively and trudged outdoors after school towards the distantly visible glass dome rippling in the sunlight.

Though she tried not to let her few emotions affect her actions, Yuu’s exhaustion was compounded by her foul mood. Her sleep had been broken repeatedly by nightmare after nightmare watching Trey fall down a flight of stairs and then chasing Riddle down an endless hallway where he turned scarlet eyes at her and screamed at her—

“ _How could you let this happen!?_ ”

Yuu felt awful. She didn’t know what, specifically, this ‘awful’ meant, but for someone who always tried to be logical and even-tempered, the unfamiliar squeezing in her chest made the day unbearably long.

Still—she had a job to do. Yuu packed a hefty leftover slice of shortcake in her bag along with a fascinating plant encyclopaedia to try and combat these unnecessary feelings and slogged around the forest looking for students. For better or for worse, the afternoon was cool and windy, and the area around the glass dome of the botanical gardens was empty.

With her entrance into the temperate zone, Yuu felt her mood lighten a few shades. She pulled out the plant encyclopaedia borrowed from the library and began to trace a path through the area, half-looking for people, half matching the exotic flora to images in the book.

The undersea castle Octavinelle was a deep blue, Yuu recalled absently. Mostro Lounge was classy and elegant, its residents dangerous and full of secrets like the depths of a sea. Despite the persistent danger hounding her steps in the form of her employer or the twins, Yuu had marked down that place as the perfect place to drown out her life forever.

The gardens, on the other hand, were a lush and rich green, sometimes matching the cheer of Cater’s peridot eyes, sometimes the gentle aquamarine of Deuce’s, and rarely the brilliant emerald of Leona’s. She’d seen a flytrap close around one unfortunate fly stickily. Been warned by Ruggie that the hanging ivy was poisonous. Felt the grass tickle against her pants as she relaxed under a tree. Yuu thought that this place was too green for her to die, but no spot in the NRC would beat it for a nap.

“Oi.”

She’d stumbled across the edge of the clearing that Grim had warned her away from. Yuu took in a breath experimentally but didn’t smell anything. What had the Monster meant when he’d said Leona had marked the area? Surely he hadn’t relieved himself here.

The thought was so ridiculous that she grinned.

“ _Oi_.”

Yuu looked towards the big tree. The object of her thoughts leaned lazily against it, long legs stretched out to display soft-looking leather sandals that encased his feet. His narrowed eyes were trained on her face as he tossed something white in his fingers up and down.

“Good afternoon, senpai,” Yuu lowered her head in greeting.

“What’s with you?” Leona asked abruptly, snatching whatever he’d been tossing out of the air.

Yuu shut her book and went to sit by him. “I was just taking a walk around the area. Have you seen anyone around here today?”

Leona barked out a laugh. “The only one in this school… _special_ enough to come in here knowing it’s my spot is Ruggie…or you.”

“What about the garden keeper?” Yuu pointed out, having long lost any offence she might have taken at his brusque manner.

“He comes in the early mornings.” He lifted one corner of his mouth to expose a fang. “Since I scare him.”

Yuu didn’t think she would ever understand why Leona thought people were afraid of him. Her confusion must have shown in her gaze, because he sighed and shook his head of richly woven hair once.

“I heard from Ruggie-senpai that your attendance is getting dangerously low,” Yuu mentioned. “Did you skip again today?”

“None of your business,” Leona dragged out his words lazily. “If you have time to be worrying about me, go and fix those huge bags under your eyes.”

She touched her face reflexively. Yuu had not been aware that her exhaustion was so evident. “I should do better,” she scolded herself.

“What, your fun cross-dressing high school life not going the way you want it to?” Leona provoked her with a cynical smile.

“Just tired,” Yuu rubbed the area under her eyelids. “I started a part-time job last week, since I need money.”

She refrained from mentioning her fitful bursts of sleep.

Leona yawned indifferently. “Ha. How industrious of you.”

“At least I’m more industrious than someone who just sleeps all day,” Yuu shot back with a challenging smile.

“Watch that smart mouth of yours,” Leona said without any real heat. “I nap since I’m awake in the evenings and mornings anyway.”

That was new. Yuu felt the curiosity eat away at the weight in her chest as she leaned forwards excitedly. “So you turn into a lion at the full moon or something?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” He snorted. “I know you’re ignorant to the point of it being hilarious, but go read a treatise on Therianthropes or something. We don’t change our forms, we don’t have any other animal features than the ears and tail, and we eat meat the same way you full-humans do.”

“I have a huge stack of books to get through before I hit the section on your kind,” she said sheepishly. “Sorry if I offended you or anything.”

“Like anything you say could offend me at this point.”

Leona’s unrestrained dismissal of her was such a departure from the friendliness of Heartslabyul, the enmity of the students throughout NRC, the deep danger hiding within Octavinelle that Yuu found herself breaking into a fit of giggles. “Right, since you’re a gentleman.”

“Stop.” Leona flicked the item in his right glove into the air again. When she looked closer, she saw that it was a white bishop carved from ivory, turning round and round in the air before his dark glove hid it from sight.

Yuu opened up her book again and sat a little distance away from him in companionable silence. It was good that she wasn’t alone. With the dark thoughts still haunting her mind, she wasn’t sure what she would do if she didn’t have the warmth of a living person in the area. Leona might have been the best person who she could have chosen to sit in the vicinity of; unlike everyone else, he didn’t _care_.

Leona himself—was it because he was a Therianthrope?—seemed to be able to sense her mood with alacrity and precision. A while later when Yuu set her book down to stretch, he lifted the eyelid that had a long scar running through it to fix her with a demanding stare. “So? What’s with you?”

“I told you. I’m tired,” Yuu repeated. “And you, senpai? You’re not sleeping for once.”

“Aah. Not in the mood today.” His tail flicked back and forth. “…Don’t think you’ve changed the topic.”

Yuu weighed the consequences of asking him, but her lack of sleep and Leona’s ears turned her way pushed the scales. “…What is the feeling,” she asked slowly, “of a heavy squeezing feeling in your chest that gives you nightmares?”

Leona blinked his catlike eyes wide. “…What?”

“I know that heat in your stomach and a trembling in your fingertips and feet mean anger now,” Yuu tried again, “but this feeling is self-directed and it’s not as clear as anger.”

They stared at each other for a long silence.

“Are you asking me,” Leona finally mustered, “the name of an _emotion_?”

“Yes. You’re the only Therianthrope who’s figured out my gender, and you’re just about the smartest person I know besides a teacher,” Yuu said. She wrinkled her nose at him. “Plus you were the one who asked me what was on my mind.”

“I didn’t expect you to…” Leona shook his head. “What, do they not have _emotions_ in your world or something?”

“They do. I always thought I was just born missing them,” Yuu explained matter-of-factly. “But recently I’ve stood corrected.”

“About ‘anger’, huh…?” Leona eyed her interestedly. “Even for an otherworlder or whatever, you sure are an unusual kid.”

“I’m not a kid,” she protested.

“Someone who doesn’t even recognize their own emotions is nothing more than a little brat,” he laughed down his nose at her. “And you should know that everyone feels emotions differently. There’s no way I can explain to you what goes on in your head.”

“That’s true,” Yuu sighed.

“I _am_ interested in what kind of an environment you had to be in that forced you to suppress your emotions to the extent you couldn’t even recognize anger,” Leona narrowed his eyes at her.

“Forced?” Yuu raised her brows. “I’m a normal person, senpai. Some people just don’t feel emotions as intensely as others, you know.”

“No,” Leona rolled onto his side so he was facing her. His smile was slow and sure. “Not you, who lights up like a firecracker whenever you ask about Therianthropes. Maybe you’ve just lived in a cage for so long you can’t recognize its bars.”

Yuu didn’t quite understand what he was saying.

Leona watched her bewilderment with a stare that wasn’t quite present. “…Like a kid,” he murmured, eyes narrowed as if he were staring at the sun. “…Hey, herbivore. Do you know how to play chess?”

—

Growing up, Yuu hadn’t had the wherewithal to be dallying in hobbies like chess—even her longing for the piano had been left unfulfilled simply because she had no money or time. At Hogwarts, she’d never been the one to join in on games of wizard chess or Exploding Snap, preferring to watch from beside Fred II (who usually ended up with singed eyebrows).

Still, she knew the basic rules. Yuu was of the biased opinion that knowledge didn’t betray you in any situation, so she’d at least managed to absorb some information about chess in her library trawling.

Leona rolled over in the grass to reveal a gorgeous chessboard behind him, where he had plucked the bishop from, and tugged it over when she nodded hesitantly. “I don’t expect anything from you,” he said condescendingly, “so don’t worry if you’re terrible.”

“Wait, you want me to play?” Yuu’s plant encyclopaedia slid off her legs in her surprise. “I’ve been told I don’t have a strategic mind.”

“But you’re not brainless, are you?” Leona waved her over with one gloved hand. Unlike the severe commanding tone Riddle used, there was something natural about whatever Leona said that made people listen.

Ruggie was one example—Yuu thought she might be becoming another. Obediently, she put her book away and scooted across the grass so that she faced him over the chessboard.

Leona turned the line of white pieces to her, setting down the bishop in its place. “Tell me, herbivore. What is the purpose of chess?”

“To bully the king into a corner?”

“Not a bad answer,” he revealed his canines in a sharp grin. “At least it’s better than saying ‘to win’.”

“When you think about it, chess is a game for bullies,” Yuu said cheekily. “Instead of going straight for the king’s life, they set up this whole elaborate scheme to try and seal off every chance he has to escape.”

“Please,” Leona snorted, “going for the king’s throat like an uncivilized savage is the move a bully would make.”

“Not as much as slowly extinguishing all his options and forcing him to abdicate or kill himself,” Yuu lifted a pawn and slid it forwards. “Now _that’s_ a bully.”

“It’s just smarts,” Leona argued, moving his own piece forward.

It was a little tough to tell—especially since he insisted on sleeping the day away—but Leona Kingscholar was far from stupid. When he was in the mood, he would even haughtily correct her and Ruggie as they mulled over the day’s homework. Yuu could not understand why he was on his second repetition of his third year here; his intelligence had a faster edge than even the genius magician Riddle.

What disqualified him from Ravenclaw, which favoured intelligence, was the way he played chess.

Yuu wasn’t as strategic as Rose Weasley and she wasn’t as keen on games as Fred, but even she could tell the way Leona played wasn’t the typical attack-and-defend nature of a regular chess game. To accommodate her inexperience, he would give her sound advice—that led her into a trap whenever she took it.

“Has anyone told you that you’re a jerk?” Yuu said rather sulkily as he tipped her queen over.

His earlier lethargy nowhere to be seen, Leona’s smirk stretched all the way up to his ears. “Is that any way to speak to someone who’s teaching you the game?”

“You’re just having fun dragging me right into your traps,” she protested.

“Take it as me teaching you the ways of the world,” he said carelessly. “This is _charity_ , you know, you should be thanking me.”

“Oh yes, thank the great Leona-senpai for deigning to pick on a beginner at chess to get his kicks,” Yuu said theatrically. “How could I have forgotten.”

Still, she could tell he wasn’t _just_ ‘good’ at the game. Often, Yuu wouldn’t even know what had hit her by the time her piece was swiped off the board. Leona played with the same lazy confidence he wore around him like a second skin, and she lost so easily that Yuu didn’t even feel the frustration that often accompanied a loss.

“You like chess?” she asked him curiously between games.

“You don’t?” he countered, setting up his rank of pawns. Yuu’s eye twitched. Was he really going to challenge her again? She’d already lost six times.

“It can’t be fun playing against someone who only loses,” she said weakly, nevertheless accepting the handful of pieces he held out to her to set in place.

“Your basics aren’t bad,” he drawled, “and chess reveals a lot about thinking patterns. It’s not just the game.”

“I suppose,” she frowned thoughtfully. “Like how much of a shrewd, sly bully you are.”

Leona raised one eyebrow at her, as if to tell her he was above her petty insults.

Yuu moved her first pawn again. “So senpai, what have you gleaned about me from the game?”

“Let’s see,” he pushed his own forward, “the way you sacrifice your pieces like it’s nothing? How you fall into the trap of a one-track mind when you see a potential path? Your extraordinary calm? Take a pick.”

“How about a weakness,” Yuu suggested. “Something I’d do well to fix.”

Leona took her pawn with a knight. “…You don’t seem to hold your king in high regard.”

“The king?” she echoed.

He propped his head up on one arm so that a curtain of mahogany covered his face. “The most important piece, and yet you almost ignore it.”

Leona seemed to be speaking almost to himself. Yuu wondered at his expression, but shrugged and explained, “It’s true that the king should be protected, but as long as the game exists, he’s going to be in danger. It’s dumb to put the king in first place, and ignore everything else, since it’ll lose you the game…right?”

“…Ah, but all of his troops,” Leona dangled a rook from his fingers, “are loyal to him. They put him first.”

“A king’s only as good as the weakest person in a kingdom. And if he’s such a weak piece that can only move one space at a time,” she made a face, “he’s not particularly worth anything, is he?”

Leona looked up at her, his hair falling back to reveal a surprised set of green eyes. “You just called the king _useless_?”

“A chess king,” Yuu clarified. “…I don’t know if there are kings or queens in this country, but the history in our world demonstrates just how useless some kings were.”

Leona sat up. “You studied histories of kings in your world.”

“I like to read,” she shrugged, “and most students go through a brief overview of world history sometime in their schooling.”

“Hmm,” Leona squinted at her across the board. “Your world is…interesting. We study the Seven Greats here all the time, but this school is an exception to the rule. Usually the only ones educated on a country’s kings are those who are set to inherit it. Great noble families, the imperial line, et cetera.”

“Seriously? You guys are less advanced than I thought,” Yuu wrinkled her nose. History of Magic existed in Hogwarts to educate students on history, although less focus was put on rulers and more on great wizards and witches. Still, education seemed more unbalanced in this world than she’d expected.

Night Raven College was rather isolated. Yuu began to realise that maybe she knew nothing about Twisted Wonderland at all. Just where was this school located?

“So tell me,” Leona prompted her. “What were the kings in your world like?”

“You’re talking about the one who forced ten thousand troops to be buried together with him? The one who had eight wives? The one who fled the throne from his cousin? The one imprisoned on an island?” she ticked off. “Usually the good stories are all about kings that failed.”

“And the good kings?”

“Good kings, huh,” Yuu said thoughtfully. “I don’t remember any.”

Leona cast his glance down. “Check.”

“Aw, shoot. Stop distracting me,” she protested, focusing on the game.

“What about coups d’état?” Leona asked as she manoeuvred a pawn to cover her king.

“Like rebellions and stuff? There are a ton of those. Really famous ones get turned into plays. Tragedies and suspense.” Yuu recalled the Pride Rock-resembling outcropping at the entrance to Savanaclaw and added, “Like Hamlet.”

Leona flicked a tail at her to continue, so she obligingly spun out Shakespeare’s longest tragedy for him to hear. Just like all the other times she talked, he feigned disinterest, soundly thrashing her in another four games, but his hovering tail was once again evidence that he was listening. Towards the end, she felt hunger tugging her stomach towards her spine, so Yuu pulled out her slice of shortcake and shared it with him.

When she was done Leona laughed, seeming as genuinely entertained as she had ever seen him. “What a fool,” he commented, licking cream from his fingers.

“Who, Hamlet? I agree, but…”

“Not him, although how ironic it was that his feigned insanity overwhelmed him in the end. I’m talking about that uncle of his.”

“Claudius,” Yuu nodded. Scar’s counterpart. “How so?”

Leona gave her a look like she was crazy, tossing the empty cake container at her head. “How _so_? In the first place, he should’ve killed the king in a way that didn’t leave a ghost wandering around.”

Yuu blinked at him, catching the box.

“Ghosts are tied to the world by strong emotions or regrets,” Leona rolled his eyes at her. “If the kid’s father hadn’t seen who his killer was, there wouldn’t be a story in the first place.”

“I thought you were going to say ‘don’t kill the king in the first place’,” Yuu said thoughtfully.

“That would be the wisest move,” Leona let his dark lashes shade his gaze. “Still, without the first move, there is no game. And lust for power isn’t anything new.”

“And Leona-senpai likes chess.”

“That’s right, herbivore. There’s such a nice playing field set up in front of you,” he said. “Why wouldn’t I take a few turns?”

“So you’d do better than Claudius, is what you’re saying,” Yuu grinned at him cheekily.

“…Please, as if I’d waste my time. Like you said, in the end he brought about only the miserable death of himself and that woman.” Leona pressed a glove to his mouth in a yawn and lay down on the grass. “It’s meaningless to bet everything on a losing battle. Better to just give up.”

Yuu dropped her box. “…That’s not like you,” she mumbled without meaning to. After all he’d just said about playing the game, after the ruthless and intelligent way he’d beaten her ten times today…

Leona barked out a short laugh as she started to clean up the chess set. There was, however, a bitter, guttural edge to it that she’d never heard coming from this person. She expected him to snap back at her—argue that she didn’t know what he was like, not really—but instead he rolled onto his back away from her. “Perhaps. But isn’t it good that I’m not stupid enough to try revolting?”

Yuu went still. Revolting against what?

But he was no longer looking at her, his mind no longer in the garden. Leona murmured, “No matter how hard you try, how many plans you come up with, some things are just impossible.”

The dead note hanging on to the end of his voice brought to mind a nearly forgotten memory of her staring at the backs of her retreating parents. How tiring, she’d thought, staring at the front door as the noise of the car sputtered to life outside. Why did I even try?

_Aah…that’s right. How come I didn’t realize before?_

_It was useless to talk to them in the first place._

In the evening glow, Leona’s green eyes were dull, his mouth in a flat line. He looked like she’d felt.

“ _Better to just give up_ ,” he’d said dully.

She didn’t know what she could say to him without being insensitive, and all of a sudden that heavy weight had doubled back to strike her in the chest again. So Yuu watched silently beside Leona as the sun sank past the glass dome into a falling burst of orange light and cursed herself for her leaden tongue.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
>  **Edited |** December 31st, 2020 for grammar, spelling, and minor details. 
> 
> —
> 
> **Definitions |**
> 
> _oya (おや)_ | (NOT parent [親], also pronounced _oya_ ) a polite interjection hard to find an English equivalent of. Jade uses it frequently in conversation. Can mean ‘oh?’ or ‘well, well’ or ‘my’ or something similar. When someone repeats it more than once they are often displaying stronger amusement, interest, being impressed etc.
> 
>  _polite speech (丁寧語, teineigo)_ | there are three main levels of ‘speech patterns’ in Japanese. Polite speech, the second one, is often used towards those older than the speaker or those equal to/slightly above them in authority. Also used for people one doesn’t know very well. Jade uses polite speech towards everyone (sometimes it falters just a bit) and Yuu uses polite speech to everyone above her year (everyone barring Grim, Ace, and Deuce right now) plus strangers. Although it doesn’t mean much when she’s politely insulting people like Floyd…
> 
>  _Grim-boy (グリ坊, Guri-bou)_ | what the Ghosts call Grim. ‘Bou’ is a friendly way to refer to a male youngster by those a good deal older than him; can also mean ‘monk’ (i.e., bouzu). A close equivalent is ‘sonny Grim’ and the direct translation is ‘Gri-boy’ but that sounds weird.
> 
> —
> 
> Good questions have come up in the comments, which means I’m sure some of you are wondering the same thing but haven’t asked yet. Please allow me to clarify here:
> 
>  **Update schedule |** I don’t like to keep readers waiting because I like you all very much 💕. First, I will _always update_ on a main character’s birthday as my way of celebration unless the sky falls down or something. (Leech twins only get one because I can’t get 40k words out in a week, sorry!) Second, I try to update within ten days of the previous update (more like a week?). However, exams in December and holidays will make it very difficult to update regularly. I will keep you posted about updates in future chapters! In any case, the next chapter will be out on Floyd’s & Jade’s birthday (November 5th). Please look forward to it!
> 
>  **Events |** Yes! I will write the events! I love the events, especially this one which is KILLING me. But!! The first chronological one as of present—Hallowe’en—won’t make sense to write after Episode 2 because the first years are acquainted with students they still don’t know at the end of October. If Yuu is suddenly talking to (for example) Ignihyde students when she hasn’t met them in the main story, readers (and I) will be very confused. (PLUS THE WAY JAMIL [spoilers] IN THIS EVENT MADE IT OUT OF THE QUESTION OKAY!!)
> 
> As Toboso-sensei said in her Magical Archives interview, the team must eventually decide to completely divorce the events in an alternate timeline from the main story (and some Personal Stories too) because characters change and grow in relationships etc. so much. So, events will be posted in a **separate story in a ‘separate timeline’** —and not for a while. (Have you seen the way Floyd _acts_ in the current event’s Episode 2 “Rampaging Monster(s)!”!?!? There’s no way he’s that nice in the main story’s Episodes 3 & 4…!) First, we have to catch up to the main story—at least to the end of Episode 3 before we write Happy Beans Day, which was released right after.
> 
> On a similar note, we’re going to show characters as the “age” they are at on their introduction card (seen in-game and in the Magical Archives). Maybe Ace turned 16 after he came to NRC, but like the main story does, we will be assuming the first years are 16, second years are 17, and third years are 18 (plus Oji-tan). Birthday stories? Maybe next year when I have time 😭
> 
> Also, I completely forgot to include this in a comment reply, but don’t be shy! Please refer to me as anything you want 💕💕 to be honest I wasn’t thinking of much when coming up with my handle name but ‘Error’ is fine or ‘writingerror’ or ‘Wri’ or ‘Er’ or ‘hey authour!!’ etc. 😂 Thank you for asking!
> 
> —
> 
> Have you noticed? In the original game, Crowley comes to Yuu and Grim to figure out the cause behind the string of accidents affecting Magift players. Yet here, he asked Ace and Deuce instead…
> 
> —
> 
> Thank you as always for reading, bookmarking, clicking the 'kudos' button, and subscribing! Now...
> 
> 🎃 [Trick or Treat!](https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm37731556) 👻
> 
> And when I say "treat," I mean comment. Please comment below! 🍫 Or I might play a [trick](https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm37746560) on you… 🤭
> 
> —


	9. March of the Fools.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The stakeout team comes closer to discovering the truth behind the string of accidents. Yuu does some investigating of her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
> Happy birthday, Jade! 🐬 Your devotion to things you love 🍄and careful planning make you the only vice Dorm Head that Octavinelle could ever want. 
> 
> Happy birthday, Floyd! 🦈 Hope you continue to swim freely and find what makes you happy.
> 
> (Guys…I’m afraid to ask…but what on EARTH does the [apparently wealthy] Leech family DO?!?!? 😱 Are they really in the business that starts with a ‘ma’ and ends with a ‘fia’??? The Personal Stories! Help!!)
> 
> —

—

“Hey, Azu~l,” Floyd dragged out the Dorm Head’s name, collapsing across one of the leather couches in the VIP room. “I saw Goldfish running around today after school.”

Azul lifted his focused stare briefly from a long, curled parchment the colour of goldenrod. “Running around?”

“Kingyo-chan was herding his school of baby fish looking for something. I gave him a good chase.” The taller Leech twin bared his teeth in an uncomfortably wide smile.

“So that’s why Jade isn’t around,” Azul murmured. He turned to the other couch. “Yuu-san, you’re acquainted with the…is he _sleeping_?”

“Awake,” Yuu mumbled, prying her eyes open.

Floyd emitted an incredulous laugh. “A _ha_. What’s with this shrimp,” frustration bled into the edge of his voice, “he really _pisses me off._ ”

Yuu rubbed at her dry eyes. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “Didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“How many times have I said not to reveal your weaknesses in here?” Azul snapped.

“A lot,” Yuu recited. She’d received a lecture about it the day before.

“What are you being all _nice_ and advising Koebi-chan for?” Floyd narrowed his mismatched eyes at her. “Just let the tiny thing get swallowed. It’s his fault for behaving like a fish born yesterday.”

“Why, Floyd,” Azul pressed a glove to his sternum and made an exaggerated bow in his seat. “Octavinelle is founded on the merciful heart of the Witch of the Sea. How can I not extend my hand to the poor, the unfortunate, the needy?”

“So why was I called in here again?” Yuu ignored his flourishing and Floyd’s insistent glare.

“That’s right. It looks like one of our Saturday day shifters has requested a switch to Friday, so I was wondering if you would be willing to take the switched shift instead,” Azul tucked the parchment away and leaned his chin on a hand to consider her. “I was told by Jade that you performed excellently in the hall last night, so consider Saturday as your last test-shift.”

“Sure, I’m okay with that,” Yuu nodded readily. “Managing the hall is fun. I get to see all sorts of people.”

“You have no idea how much it pleases me to hear you say so,” Azul said dryly. “Since some of my waiters tend to decrease my sales just standing there.”

“Really?” Yuu blinked. “Like who?”

Azul stared at her.

Floyd’s laugh was a little less angry this time. “What’s with that? Koebi-chan, do you not have eyes?”

“My eyesight was pretty good last time I went to an ophthalmologist,” Yuu tilted her head at him. “Someone I know messing up the atmosphere?”

“Yuu-san…” Azul said carefully, “what do you think of Floyd when you see him?”

“Think?” she repeated, confused.

Azul sighed, as if reaching for his patience. “Impressions on his appearance,” he told her slowly, as he would a child.

“Is blue a common hair colour in this world?” Yuu wondered. “…Is what I thought.”

“That’s it?” Floyd squinted at her.

“Well, obviously you don’t need anyone else to compliment you on how beautiful you are,” she squinted back. “I’m sure you get it all the time.”

Floyd tipped off the couch onto the carpet with a _thunk_.

Yuu jumped, clutching her chest. All remaining dregs of sleepiness had been shaken out of her forcibly. “What the heck!?”

“…Yuu-san…” Azul’s glasses slid down in his nose in shock as he stared at her.

“Ashengrotto-senpai?” Yuu pointed at the long stretch of black fabric marking Floyd on the ground before catching sight of his expression. “Oh, don’t worry, senpai. You’re pretty unbelievably good-looking too. Is it a Merman thing to have otherworldly beauty or something? I should read up on this.”

To her surprise, Azul sputtered with none of his usual composure, his fedora sliding off to reveal the tops of his styled silver hair. Red burned the pale whites of his ears.

“What on earth is wrong with you!?” Azul managed after a few moments of opening and closing his mouth like a fish.

“Uh…” Yuu started to feel stupid. “Sorry. Was it a taboo to touch on looks or something? Is it that normal for people to be good-looking here?”

“Koebi-chan,” Floyd said weakly, shoving himself back onto the couch, “just…shut _up_ for a second.”

Yuu obediently shut up, looking between them confusedly.

Azul composed himself with a cough, though he had given up on his hat. “Anyway! The hall is yours Saturday. After that, we will be limiting hours at Mostro Lounge through the end of October.”

“Sudden topic change?”

“Ko-e-bi-chan,” Floyd enunciated pleasantly, “If you do~n’t shut up right now I’m gonna squeeze that thin neck of yours again.”

Yuu rolled her eyes but turned back to Azul’s office desk. “Why is the Lounge limiting hours?”

“Why, I’m glad you asked, Yuu-san,” Azul clasped his hands together in delight. “Perhaps you are not aware, but the school hosts a world-renowned Magift tournament at the end of October each year. Don’t you think it’s a wonderful business opportunity?”

“Come to think of it, Headmaster said something about there being booths and things set up for visitors,” Yuu recalled.

“Precisely. And after last week’s Dorm Head meeting, I was given permission to manage such an event. It is truly an honour,” Azul said with a sinister smile.

“So you’re going to be busy working on the event until the day of the tournament,” Yuu summarized.

“Correct. My, it is so nice to have someone who can keep up for once,” Azul clapped his gloves together. “Therefore, I will not be able to draft out a schedule for you until the beginning of November. However! You, my poor first-year student, are in need of monetary funding, are you not?”

“Asking that while knowing the answer is called malice,” she told him, unimpressed.

Azul ignored her. “That’s where my _compassion_ comes in.”

Floyd snickered from the couch. Yuu fought to keep a straight face.

“The tournament occurs two Sundays from this one,” Azul smiled benevolently at her. “I would like for you to help with sales within the audience during intermissions. Since it’s a school holiday, your wages will be quite impressive. How about it, Yuu-san?”

“Quite impressive?” Yuu asked interestedly.

“I guess it’s like this much?” Floyd spread out his gloved hands to show her.

Yuu spluttered. “For one day? You’re not tricking me again, are you?”

“How sad that you don’t believe me!” Azul pretended to wipe at his eyes. “I have no reason to lie to you. Especially with the performance you have been completing during the past four shifts, including this one. In fact, I will even give you a contract to sign.”

“Senpai sure loves contracts,” Yuu noted as Azul pulled open a drawer.

“Isn’t it interesting?” Floyd grinned wickedly. “Azul never does anything unfair and he _still_ manages to scare the shit outta his enemies. If you sign a contract with him, it’s all on your head.”

Floyd’s eyes looked alive when he talked about Azul, Yuu noted. It was a far sight from the anger darkening his gaze directed towards her.

He noticed her staring, and the brightness faded from his eyes. “What?”

“Oh…nothing,” Yuu shrugged, hopping off the couch to receive the leather binder Azul passed to her. “Senpai, you really are good at typing this stuff up.”

“I had some help,” he said dismissively.

“…But what does this part mean?” Yuu, who was scanning through the Magift sales contract, frowned. “‘ _The aforementioned will suggest, to the best of their ability, ideas pertaining to items to be sold at the booths_.’ Ideas?”

“So you noticed,” Azul smiled at her conspiratorially. “In order to make our proceeds swing further up than they did last year, we are constantly in need of new products to sell. Last year was rather lacklustre, which couldn’t be helped, as Mostro Lounge was still being built and we were limited to a single booth.”

“You did this last year too?” Yuu asked him.

“Of course I did,” Azul said like it was natural, “Why would I let such a big opportunity pass me by?”

Yuu shook her head in amazement. She was beginning to see what had chased Azul all the way up to attaining Dorm Head status his second year. Not just his intelligence and his business acumen—this person worked harder than anyone she had ever met. Managing one business on the side was already impossible for most students, yet he was accomplishing duties of a Dorm Head in addition to planning for events like the Magift tournament and doing his shady side business. Did he even sleep?

“Okay,” she said decisively, “I’ll help you think of ideas.”

Both Azul and Floyd gave her surprised looks. “…Oh?” the former raised one elegant brow. “I was expecting you to protest that article like you did when you read your contract last time.”

“You read that entire thing?” Floyd stuck out his tongue in disgust. “Koebi-chan, you gotta be crazy.”

“In return,” Yuu lifted one finger, “Can you help me set up whatever this world’s version of a bank account is? So I can store my money.”

“That’s all?” Azul looked even more confused. “I finished doing so a long time ago. I’ll have the account information given to you by Saturday.”

“Ashengrotto-senpai,” Yuu shook her head in admiration again. “You’re _amazing_. How do I become like you?”

“…A _ha_ ,” Floyd turned to Azul with delight pulling his mouth wide.

For the second time that day, Yuu was treated to the sight of her employer’s ears turning scarlet.

—

**CHAPTER NINE | March of the Fools.**

—

Yuu liked working in the kitchens well enough, but she took to waitering (waitressing) like a fish to water, pun intended. Mostro Lounge was beautiful, and the atmosphere settled around her like a dark blanket, but it was talking to the guests that fuelled her curiosity like nothing else.

After everything, Yuu still _loved_ learning new things.

The most common customers were Octavinelle students and surprisingly, ones from Savanaclaw. Perhaps it had to do with the menu, which was heavily slanted towards a carnivorous diet. However, she almost never saw anyone from Heartslabyul or any of the other dorms show.

“Hey waiter, more ice water over here please!”

“Be right there,” Yuu called back, reaching for the pitcher.

Wednesday evening was fuller than Monday—but couldn’t match Friday night’s frenetic energy or Sunday’s slow hours of long-staying customers. Yuu moved orders back and forth with light footsteps, ignoring her aching feet. It was important to display an upbeat attitude towards people who were spending money in your presence, not the least of which was because they left tips behind on the counter.

It was a good thing that Floyd was in the kitchen. Last shift, he’d tripped her with those ridiculously long legs and she’d nearly crashed into a moving waiter. Jade, who was supposed to be her trainer, had just stood back to avoid his brother’s classy shoe pass by and laughed politely.

Those twins, Yuu thought, had to be the exact same on the inside.

“See ya later, kid,” the last departing third year Octavinelle student ruffled her hair roughly before heading out up the stairs.

Yuu stretched after returning the greeting. It was getting late and the Lounge hall was empty. It was time to clean up.

With just the quiet pull of the jazz music to accent the darkened café and the other waiters long gone, she was plunged into solitude. Yuu stared at the dark ocean, only illuminated by the crystal jellyfish lights that hung from the ceiling, and wondered if she could just…break the glass and walk into nothing…

…Now was not the time for this.

But she was all alone.

Yuu was starting to think she had a serious problem if every time she was by herself, she started to have a nervous breakdown. It was probably due to her flaw of never being able to stop thinking—especially with all the things weighing down on her shoulders. What she would have given to be able to hug Grim to her right now…

As it was, the thoughts rushed at her all at once.

Messing with time-space. Existing in a world she shouldn’t. Interacting with people she shouldn’t. Riddle dripping ink and magic from his feet suspended in the air. Trey’s foot in a cast; her failed charm glowing against it fruitlessly.

Waiting for her father to pick her up from school for hours…

_Everything is meaningless anyway._

That empty, dull glaze to Leona’s eyes when he had said it was better to just give up would not leave her mind. Yuu wondered why he had looked like that in the sunset gardens.

She hated how it reminded her of herself so painfully.

Aah, if she could just—

“—Hey.”

The gravel in Floyd’s usual sweet tenor made her lift her head his way warily, the remnants of her thoughts sifting through her fingers like sand. When he talked like this, he was usually in a foul mood, and the aggressive slant to those turquoise eyebrows made Yuu tense slightly.

“Senpai,” she acknowledged carefully.

Floyd took one step—but for someone nearly two metres tall, it still brought him right up to her face. Yuu’s nose barely reached his solar plexus as she ducked backwards reflexively. She was not eager to be choked again.

The movement backwards seemed to irritate him even more. Floyd lifted one large hand. “Hey,” he repeated, still with that lower register lining his voice, “I don’t like that look on your face.”

Yuu stuck her hands behind her back to toss the rag she was using onto a table. “What look?”

“That…” the outstretched hand spasmed. “That corpse-like look. It pisses me off.”

“I thought I, as you say, ‘pissed you off’ with my very existence,” Yuu regained some of her usual equanimity. What did he mean by _corpse-like look_?

“Yeah. Yeah, you do,” Floyd leaned down so that those wild, inhuman eyes locked onto hers. His grin was not friendly. “All of you pisses me off. Jumping around like a tiny shrimp. You’re so small I could just…snap you in half with one hand…”

Yuu winced as the hand closed around her shoulder. It spanned across her collarbone with ease as it squeezed.

“Is it just because I’m small?” she challenged nevertheless, almost glad for the distraction. “You were small when you were a baby, weren’t you?”

“Not delicate like you,” Floyd narrowed his eyes, “not _fragile_ like you. The weak die and get hunted, and you’re even softer and smaller and…Just looking at you makes my teeth itch.”

None of them had been very clear about Mermen with her, but Yuu was sure that neither Floyd, Jade, nor Azul were human. It wasn’t just the unearthly cold in their eyes. Not just the beauty that no one else seemed to be touched by.

Floyd was the easiest for her to tell. He wasn’t quiet about his intentions to strangle her. Neither was he eager to behave in a manner similar to other humans, follow the act that Azul had pulled under his belt like a costume. His was a completely different style of threatening from his brother Jade, who maintained a gentle disposition just so that his cruelty could be shown even more clearly.

No, Floyd was simply a predator. An apex predator.

Yuu looked it in the eye. “Are you going to rip me to pieces?” she asked absently.

“…That’s the first time someone on land has said something like that to me,” Floyd gritted lowly after a moment. “That pisses me off too.”

“Ouch,” Yuu hissed, tugging at his hand, “My collarbone’s going to snap, senpai!”

“Just like that!?” Floyd laughed incredulously. “I didn’t even put any strength in…Your hands are _tiny!_ How the hell have you lived up until now without getting devoured by some hungry beast!?”

“Compared to you, everyone’s small,” Yuu said in a strained voice, “and I come from a world without the danger of being devoured physically.”

“And you fell into this world,” Floyd said slowly, “like a clam without its shell.”

“That’s quite a simile,” Yuu retaliated, but his other hand squeezed her other shoulder and she shut up smartly.

“Ah…” Floyd’s eyes narrowed in delight. “You’re so helpless…it would be so easy to snap your neck and be done with it. Koebi-chan, you can’t survive without someone to symbiote with, can you? What a pitiful little shrimp.”

That slightly unhinged expression put Yuu on edge. “Senpai,” she managed stiffly.

“And you don’t even want to live that much, not really,” his voice lifted until it was that deceptively friendly tenor again. “Not with that look on your face like shattered glass. How about I end it all for you here?”

Yuu, not expecting him to pinpoint her thoughts so clearly, felt her throat whistle as she sucked in a gasp.

No one had ever been able to—

“That’s right,” Floyd tightened his grip, “you really thought it wasn’t obvious? Those eyes are the ones of a prey that’s lost their fight. How about it? If I just squeezed a little more…”

If he just squeezed a little more.

Yuu tried to string together a word, but she only managed a vowel. She should deny it. Hurry and find her usual calm. Respond in a biting refusal.

She couldn’t let him dig any deeper.

“Weak,” Floyd said almost dreamily, “small and breakable. I can’t believe there’s a guy that’s so girly in this world.”

—Right.

The words splashed against her head like ice water. Yuu was playing the part of a boy right now. If Floyd killed her here, whatever autopsy procedures were conducted would reveal her gender. Now was not the time to be so swept away by the crevices of her own thoughts.

“…Ocean,” she managed finally.

Floyd blinked. Light from the chandeliers caught his golden eye and made it glimmer with reflected brightness. “Ocean?” he repeated.

“I want to die in the ocean,” Yuu told him. “Sink all the way down so that the pressure is my blanket forever.”

The blue-haired second year holding onto her shoulders went completely still. He was still bent over to look her in the eye, so she saw the way his two mismatched ones widened as they fixed upon her.

“But you shouldn’t kill me,” she kept going. Her fingers touched the cool, nearly translucent skin under his eyes—compared to his face, her hand really _was_ small. “Don’t dirty your hands with me…don’t be kind to someone like me.”

Floyd’s face contorted. A second later, the pressure around her collar was gone; he’d taken a step back, staring at her as if she were a Ghost or worse.

“Not me,” Yuu told him calmly, picking up the rag. “I’m not worth it. Bad things happen to magicians who meddle with otherworldly things.”

But he wasn’t listening. Floyd’s pale skin was rapidly losing any colour it had; with the blue of the sea dancing against the glass on his right, he looked almost liquid. “…Azul,” he said.

Yuu blinked. “What?”

“Koebi-chan,” Floyd said seriously. “Stop acting like a jellyfish. You need to bite back when you’ve been bitten. Otherwise someone really is going to finish you off one day.”

“ _What?_ ”

“Not everyone’s going to fish you from the ocean.”

“Seriously, _what?_ ”

Floyd ignored her; he’d turned to leave. Yuu watched him go in confusion, wondering at the sudden shift in his manner. Floyd changed emotions on the tip of his hat, but she had never seen that white-faced, indecipherable expression he had worn before he’d told her with such vehemence to change.

Bite back when she’d been bitten.

“Does he want me to bully _him_ or something?” she mumbled in the darkened Lounge. Only the swing of the lively saxophone answered her.

—

The stakeout team consisting of Riddle, Ace, Deuce, Grim and Cater had made contact with several of the dormitories after school while Yuu was working. She’d entrusted Grim with her apology for not being able to make it, but the next morning Ace and Deuce nearly took her door down with their knocking to fill her in eagerly on their progress.

“Pomefiore was seriously straight out of some period movie,” Ace slung an arm around her shoulders as the four of them approached Main Street. Yuu stifled a hiss as he knocked against one spot still bruised from Floyd’s fingers. “Everything was purple and flowery and stuff.”

“Everything’s red in Heartslabyul, so there really isn’t much difference,” Deuce remarked, pushing a snoring Grim back up on her head as he began to slide. “But seriously…it’s hard to believe some of the students in there are male. They’re so…girly.”

“It’s a scam,” Ace muttered darkly. “Who wants to see pretty dudes? Bring in the girls! Right, Yuu?”

“Right,” Yuu said vehemently. “Just make NRC open to all genders.”

“You two,” sighed Deuce with an eyeroll. “…Anyway, after that we were going to visit Octavinelle, but…”

Ace shuddered. “Don’t even bring it up.”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen Rosehearts-senpai look remotely afraid,” Deuce muttered.

Yuu raised both eyebrows and opened her mouth to ask further.

“Anyway! Then we went over to Savanaclaw and got into a fight with the Dorm Head. That guy’s terrible!” Ace complained, cutting her off. “He rubbed our faces in the ground in Magift without a shred of mercy.”

“You guys sure met a lot of people,” Yuu was impressed. “Even the Savanaclaw Dorm Head? Cater-senpai must be a genius with communications.”

“You sure got that right. Remind me never to get on _his_ bad side.”

“There’s this one kid from Savanaclaw we were thinking would be the best candidate to guard,” Deuce frowned.

“The Dorm Head?”

“Not that scary bastard!” Ace bared his teeth. “In the first place, Savanaclaw’s Dorm Head could probably wipe the culprit in the dirt _without_ help. Just because we stepped in his territory or whatever he fricking…”

“Savanaclaw is a place that relies on the rules Therianthropes use,” Deuce explained, “so we should have probably been more careful entering. But it was a good fight! We lost, but the Dorm Head was _really_ strong.”

“I’m glad you got a punch or two in,” she grinned weakly, remembering her own encounter with the students who’d nearly knocked her teeth out. “But I guess I don’t wanna meet this Savanaclaw Dorm Head anytime soon.”

“Yeah, stay away from him. He looks like he’ll murder someone any second,” Ace waved the memory away. “The kid from Savanaclaw we wanted to guard was all like ‘ _stay out of my way_ ’ though, so we couldn’t really get further than that with him.”

“But he did help us out in the Magift match,” Deuce said thoughtfully.

“Why on earth were you guys playing Magift?” Yuu muttered, “wasn’t it a fight?”

“You can use magic freely during Magift,” Ace grinned, “even though magic is forbidden normally in fights between students. So it was an excuse to wipe their asses.”

“We got _our_ asses wiped, unfortunately,” Deuce sighed. “Still, I think we can get through to the Savanaclaw first year we wanted to guard. What do you call those types? _Tsundere_?”

Ace guffawed. “Yeah, that.”

“For guys who got their butts whipped you sure look sprightly,” Yuu commented with a grin.

“Please. Don’t underestimate teenage boys,” Ace flexed. “Minus you, who sits in the library all day. And Deuce is just a delinquent.”

“I’m aiming to be a model student!” Deuce protested. He coughed. “…Anyway, Yuu. Grim told us you were busy yesterday. Everything all right?”

Yuu blinked as their attention turned to her. For a moment, she hesitated—but Yuu liked Ace and Deuce, trusted them, and indeed there was something on her mind. She decided to ask. “How do you bully someone?”

Ace choked on his spit and nearly fell over.

Deuce rounded on her, a savage gleam brightening his eyes. “Yuu! You finally…you’re finally going to…!?”

Yuu tilted her head at him, confused. Before she could question why the two of them had reacted so strongly, though, a commanding voice cut through their conversation.

“Step aside, the three of you. You’re blocking the path walking so slowly.”

“ _Geh_ , Dorm Head,” Ace shuffled aside as Riddle approached them. His hair was a little wet.

“Good morning Rosehearts-senpai,” Yuu greeted him, pleased to see that there was some more colour to his face today.

“Yuu,” Riddle inclined his head before he stepped up to her. “Your tie is all wrong.”

Ace and Deuce stepped back out of respect—or more likely, reflexive fear—but Yuu, who had gotten used to close contact with Riddle after last week’s excursion when she rode in front of him on a saddle, obediently exposed her collar for him.

“Morning, Yuu-chan!” Cater approached them at a jog. “Geez. Riddle-kun, don’t run off without me just because you see the Directing Student, okay? I thought something had happened.”

“It’s a slippery slope once you begin to wear your uniform incorrectly.” Ignoring Cater, Riddle lectured her, untying her ribbon completely to fasten the tie properly. “As a Directing Student, you should set a good example for your dorm…though as of now, only one snoring Monster is part of it.”

“Thank you senpai,” Yuu said sheepishly. “Um, the truth is I never tied a tie before, so I usually just put it in a bow.”

“Like me?” Riddle raised a brow and nodded. “Very well. Until you learn how to do so, allow me to fix your tie for you.”

“Okay,” she nodded meekly. Yuu reached into her pocket for a freshly laundered handkerchief filched from Ramshackle and pressed it to his slightly wet hair. “Senpai, did you take a shower?”

“I went for a ride this morning to clear my mind,” Riddle explained, lowering his head for her. “There wasn’t enough time to dry my hair after the shower I took. I suppose I was a little rough with my spell.”

“You can have this, then,” she passed the damp handkerchief to him after a few passes across his surprisingly soft tresses. “So you don’t get a headache from the cold.”

Riddle smiled down at her and patted her head fondly. “Thank you, Yuu. I’ll have it washed and returned to you later.”

“Hey,” Cater whispered over to Ace and Deuce in a carrying voice. “When did these two get so close?”

“Are you asking _me_?!” Ace hissed. “Doesn’t Dorm Head like him ‘cause he follows the rules and saved his life?”

“Everyone should like Yuu,” Deuce didn’t even bother to whisper. He crossed his arms proudly. “Yuu is the best person I’ve met.”

If she had been within arm’s length, Yuu would have reached for Deuce’s hand. He was the best friend she could ever ask for.

“The three of you,” Riddle commanded them. “We’ll be late for class. Come along.”

Used to following rules, the three Heartslabyul dorm students gathered around them with dull noises of agreement as Riddle took her hand and tugged her along towards the castle.

Cater came up on her other side and lowered his voice. “So the thing is,” he said, linking his other arm with her, “someone else got hurt last night.”

Riddle didn’t seem surprised, but Ace, Deuce and Yuu stiffened simultaneously. “…How did you figure out?” she asked him lowly.

“One of the portraits witnessed the accident after school yesterday,” Cater explained. “Probably around when we were at Savanaclaw. According to the portraits, the injured party was a second year from Scarabia named Jamil Viper.”

“Jamil-senpai!” Yuu clutched his arm in surprise. “I know him! Sort of.”

“Really?” Ace peeked around from Riddle’s other side. “I’ve seen him around after school at club activities, but never talked directly to the guy. You know where he’d be this time of day?”

“Not particularly, but…” Yuu thought for a moment. “Yesterday I left you all to do the hunting, but today would you let me make up for it by asking Jamil-senpai about the culprit? You guys still have other people on your list, right? It would be more efficient that way.”

“Huh? But,” Riddle began, “We can’t just leave you by yourself. You don’t have magic to…”

“Ha ha,” Cater gave him a teasing smile as the Dorm Head caught himself, “Yuu-chan can protect himself well enough, can’t you?”

“I wanted to bake something for Trey-senpai as a get-well gift anyway,” she said sheepishly, “plus I feel bad for not really making any progress. Promise I’ll report to you before tomorrow!”

“Yuu,” Riddle frowned at her sternly.

She gave him a tentative smile. “Um, please?”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Cater piped up from her other side, swinging her arm back and forth. “We still have to visit the spots we didn’t make it to yesterday. Plus marking that kid from Savanaclaw. If Yuu-chan says he knows him, I suggest we leave it up to him.”

“Pleaaaase,” Yuu dragged out, imitating Grim when he wanted a tuna can.

Riddle sighed with what looked like a helpless grin. “Oh…all right, Yuu. Promise that you’ll be careful, though I don’t expect the criminal will aim for someone as small as you. And find me if anything happens, all right? I’m in the second year’s Class E.”

“Okay.” Yuu surreptitiously fist pumped. “I’ll make sure to bring you results, Dorm Head!”

“Mm. See to it that you do.” Riddle nodded once and tugged her forward. “Come along, we’ll be late if we keep dawdling.”

“Riddle-kun, we’re _early_ ,” Cater laughed.

“Hey Yuu,” Ace called over before Riddle pulled her inside the building. He was smiling—that narrow-eyed wicked grin that he’d been wearing when he’d first met her.

Yuu liked this smile. “What?” she obliged him.

“To answer your earlier question,” Ace winked, “to really bully someone you need to know your enemy.”

Know her enemy, Yuu repeated in her mind.

It didn’t seem like Azul or Jade would be willing to divulge information on their fellow dorm-mate. Which meant it was up to her to figure it out by herself.

Yuu thought about Floyd’s white face and resolved to ask Cater for information gathering tips when this was all over.

—

After school found Yuu in the school kitchens, rolling out well-aired dough into small oblong balls. She’d asked Riddle about Trey’s favourite foods, and although she couldn’t get access to candied violets, there was enough leftover flour from lunch to create madeleines. Good enough for a snack. They were also easy to make, leaving her time to prowl the school—she still needed to go find Jamil Viper and ask him what had happened.

Yuu tried to think of places that the quiet second-year would be as she worked. Over the past month, she’d sat with the friendly Kalim several times during meals, and Jamil joined them around half of those occurrences. In stark contrast to the friendly ball of energy that made Scarabia’s Dorm Head so likeable, Jamil ate without a word and urged Kalim to chew properly in a way that reminded her of a mother.

Maybe she should go ask Headmaster Crowley where he would be this time of…

“—said, Kalim, you need to give me warning when you suddenly decide…”

Yuu looked up from her huge wooden cutting board and came face to face with the object of her thoughts.

Jamil blinked his charcoal grey eyes at her, hefting a box with both hands. Dark strands of glossy hair fell across the side of his face into his eyes. “…Directing Student? What are you doing here?”

“But Jamil, I’m hungry,” Kalim’s bright and clear voice cut over the end of his sentence. “We can make it together, all right?”

“You stay away from the ingredients,” Jamil rolled his eyes. “And it looks like the kitchens are already occupied.”

Yuu lifted one floury hand in a tentative wave as Kalim popped his head curiously past the doorway under Jamil’s shoulder. The gold-embroidered shawl tied around his white hair gleamed in the light; he caught sight of her, and his face lit up in a beam. “Hey! It’s Yuu!”

According to Kalim, who bounced inside to greet her, today was a day in which both the basketball club, which Jamil was a part of, and the light music club, which Kalim was a member of, were on break. Kalim had been loitering within campus after school before he was suddenly struck by a bout of hunger.

“And here we are,” Jamil set the box down on the counter next to hers with a surprisingly heavy thump. “Do you mind if I work beside you? I won’t get in the way.”

“Of course not.” Yuu shifted her cutting board to allocate room for him before she caught sight of his hand. “What’s that white stuff on your palm?”

“Right! Listen, Yuu!” Kalim leapt up to sit cross-legged on a table, his bracelets and anklets jangling. “Can you believe that Jamil cut himself with his knife yesterday? I’ve told you about how good he is with a knife, right?”

“It’s a plaster.” Ignoring Kalim, Jamil flipped his palm skyward briefly to show the white bandage stretching across. “There’s medicine on the inside. I’ll be fine, though I can’t grip anything with this hand for a couple of weeks.”

“Right! I heard from Cater-senpai that you got injured,” Yuu peered concernedly up into his face. “Was it your hand? What happened?”

Jamil jerked back in surprise briefly. “…What’s with you all of a sudden?”

“Yuu’s just curious, isn’t he?” Kalim grinned in her direction. “I told you, Jamil! Yuu’s a nice guy!”

The vice Dorm Head blinked before straightening as if he had not reacted at all. “…Don’t worry, Directing Student. It’s not that serious.”

Yuu wasn’t so sure. “How about this, senpai? I’m almost done with my baking so would you mind if I put these in the oven first? Then I’ll help you out with whatever you’re doing.”

Kalim perked up, shaking his ankles over the edge of the table excitedly. The curved tops of his _khussa_ bounced with the movement. “Jamil! If I can’t help you, get Yuu to!”

“As if I could do that,” Jamil shook his head in restraint. “Your offer is appreciated, Directing Student, but this is my duty. I’m fine.”

“Duty?” Yuu echoed, squinting.

“I said you didn’t _have_ to,” Kalim sighed, his scarlet eyes drooping a little.

Jamil didn’t respond. Yuu glanced between them cautiously.

“Um…then how about I’ll be your left hand for a while,” she pointed at the bandaged appendage. “That way you’re doing whatever you need to do, I’m just following your directions. How about it, senpai?”

This time those charcoal grey eyes narrowed in her direction to show the kohl drawn in an elegant curve above his eyelids. “What do you want?” Jamil asked her suspiciously.

Here was another student that wasn’t very friendly. Yuu had sort of expected it (especially since many of her tormentors in the school hailed from Scarabia), but Jamil’s gaze was as empty as the night sky.

“Jamil,” Kalim started, the smile fading from his face.

“How about this,” Yuu smiled disarmingly up at him. “If I help you, will you tell me about how you got injured in return? I have reason to believe that the wound may not have been your fault. This way, we’re both doing each other a favour.”

“And what will you do with that information?”

“Hopefully we’re going to catch the perpetrator,” Yuu shrugged.

Jamil lifted one dark brow. “Who’s _we_?”

Kalim had hopped off the table to circle around her other side. Yuu wiped her hands on a towel and cleared off an area for him to sit without getting flour on his cashmere cardigan. With the comfortable ease of a man used to others working for him, Kalim waited for her to finish before he hopped up beside the sink so he towered over her.

Yuu explained Trey’s accident and the series of mishaps that had systematically removed Magift regulars from the field. She was careful to arrange Kalim’s draping cardigan so it didn’t fall onto her flour-dusted dough. The thing probably cost more than she did.

“I see.” Kalim didn’t seem very surprised—or unhappy. Those beautiful red eyes blinked once before he remarked, “Jamil’s on Scarabia’s Magift team too. I mean so am I, but it makes sense that he’d get hurt first.”

“First?” Yuu repeated.

The Dorm Head grinned at her and ruffled her hair. “Sure! We’ll tell you about Jamil’s incident if you help as thanks.”

The person in question rubbed at his brow with a deep sigh. “…Well, I suppose I don’t mind,” he said at last. “After all, it would be beneficial to have some knowledge of these incidents to prevent anything similar from happening in the future.”

Jamil began to pull bottles of spices from the box he had brought. She realized with surprise that instead of using any of the leftover ingredients that the kitchen was ever stocked with (Trey had told her where the leftover flour and condiments were usually located), he had pre-measured out varying amounts of his own coarse, brownish floury dough and sealed bowls of vegetables and meat.

“Are you left-handed, senpai?” Yuu asked, sliding her own madeleine egg-and-flour dough into the heated oven and setting the timer for ten minutes. “Which side should I stand on?”

“Right-handed,” Jamil replied. “Stay where you are. Could you get a knife and clean cutting board to dice the vegetables here? Cut them as small as you can.”

“Okay.” The instructions given to her were clear and snappy, much like Crewel’s or Riddle’s. Yuu put her dirty utensils into the sink and got to work.

The Scarabia dorm seemed to fit with the image of a middle eastern or Arabic-speaking country back in Yuu’s world, or perhaps India—Kalim told her about his home surrounded by desert, about riding elephants into a parade, about how his healthy bronze skin was still considered pale for someone from his country. When she asked the name of the place he came from, Kalim laughed at her ignorance without malice and told her that it was the ‘Country of Hot Sands’.

“Two countries now,” Yuu commented as she diced what looked like leeks. “One is the Kingdom of Roses, and one is the Country of Hot Sands. I should go look up a world map.”

“You say that as if you’ve never seen one,” Jamil passed her an onion. “Mix this in.”

“Are we making dumplings or something?” she questioned, tipping her thinly cut slivers of leek into a bowl.

“Something like that. It’s a variation on samosas that Kalim always eats in this weather.” Jamil waved a hand at the window, where dark clouds were gathering visibly.

“No potatoes?” Yuu blinked, rinsing her knife in cold water before she began to slice the onion.

“Not in the mood for the regular stuffing,” Kalim said cheerfully. “Anyway, Jamil, Yuu here doesn’t know anything about this place! I told you when he got here right?”

“It wasn’t just you who told me,” Jamil said dryly, “but I find it hard to believe that any resident of Twisted Wonderland is living in this world without having heard of two of its largest countries.”

“Guess he has some unique circumstances,” Kalim shrugged magnanimously.

Yuu liked this part about him. She’d compared him to a sun before—a great big ball of fire that was just barely in gravitational position to provide adequate heat and light for earth. Kalim didn’t ask her any questions. Didn’t expect her to reveal anything. And still he smiled with joy crinkling the corners of his eyes and told her she was a good kid.

Kalim al-Asim shone barely in the right spot, shedding heat. A sun.

Jamil made a humming noise. “All right. …Directing Student, are you used to cooking?”

“Hmm?” Yuu ran her knife briefly under the cold tap again before starting to dice the remaining onions. “I mean, just by necessity. Recently, I’ve been helping Trey Clover-senpai out with baking, so I think I’ve gotten a bit better at sweets.”

“You’re pretty amazing, Yuu,” Kalim tilted his head to the side with a grin. “Not as amazing with a knife as Jamil, but then, Jamil’s knife skills even put our head cook to shame.”

“Really?” Yuu paused as the oven beeped and washed her hands before she went to flip the madeleines. “Well, even really good cooks make mistakes sometimes.”

“Maybe he was tired from Magift practice yesterday afternoon,” Kalim said thoughtfully. “Practices have really been ramping up lately.”

“As if my hands would slip from something as insignificant as that,” Jamil shook his head. “However, during prep there was a moment where I felt my consciousness fade.”

Yuu shut the oven and set her mitt down, turning back to him in concern. “Consciousness?” she repeated tensely. Something like a Confundus Charm or the Imperius was accompanied by similar symptoms.

Kalim cocked his head to the side and looked towards Jamil, waiting for him to continue.

But Jamil just tipped a bowl of ground meat in her vegetable mix. “Will you put a pan on the fire, Directing Student?”

“Okay.” Yuu, catching his drift, didn’t chase the topic and got cooking oil to heat in the pan.

Jamil Viper was a truly excellent cook—perhaps he was even better than Floyd. Not only were his directions clearly laid out and easy to follow, his pre-preparations in separating food and spices were done without a single flaw. Where Floyd Leech would send jets of flames in the air just because he was bored and fling ingredients haphazardly into pots, Jamil was utterly in control of his every movement. He’d probably made these fillings thousands of times before.

None of the people in this school behaved like the typical teenager. Yuu thought that perhaps Hogwarts had ten students total that could make a decent meal, if she were being generous, but here at NRC, Trey, Ruggie, Floyd, Jade, and Jamil had all proven to her they were more self-sufficient than she could have expected from young and talented magicians. That was almost half of the people she knew.

Yuu found it interesting how different Jamil’s cooking style was from the Leech twins. She’d thought Jade approached every meal like a science experiment and Floyd like a mad science experiment. Jamil made it look like an art as he fished out bits of food to taste before adding a dash of spice here and there.

While he adjusted the flavour in the sizzling pan, Yuu took her madeleines out from the oven and packed them in a box to take to Trey and Riddle. The leftovers she offered to Kalim and Jamil.

The latter put up a hand to stop her. He shut off the gas powering the stove before breaking a piece off one of the steaming baked treats and tasting it. Kalim waited until Jamil nodded before reaching for one.

Yuu looked between them with a bemused smile. “Are you his taste-tester or something, Jamil-senpai?”

Jamil tucked a long lock of hair behind his ear, looking exhausted. “Well…you’re not wrong.”

“Jamil’s my friend!” Kalim said cheerfully, biting down on a madeleine and completely circumventing the question. “…Mm~! Yuu, this is really good!”

“Thanks,” she said sheepishly, “I learned from the best. Trey-senpai’s the son of a pâtissier.”

“I should talk to him more often,” Kalim said thoughtfully.

“ _Don’t_ wander around unsupervised,” Jamil cautioned, weariness leaking into his voice.

Kalim didn’t seem to notice. “Na ha ha! I know, I know!”

Yuu followed Jamil to the counter where he took out what looked like pre-prepared floury crusts and began to follow his example in stuffing them with the fragrant meat and vegetable stir-fry. “Senpai?” she asked cautiously. “Are you really doing all right?”

Jamil cast a disinterested glance her way. The scarlet stone fastened to his hair tie gleamed in the light. “I’m fine,” he said dully. “Directing Student, you look more exhausted than I do.”

Kalim hadn’t mentioned it, so Yuu hadn’t noticed. “Do I really?”

“It’s easy to see when someone hasn’t been getting sleep.” Jamil took a filled samosa from her fingers to pinch the edges together. “Before searching for criminals or running around chasing that cat of yours, you should be taking care of yourself.”

Yuu smiled wryly. “Grim’s a Monster, not a cat. And I’m fine.”

“Right.”

“I’m fine just like you’re fine,” she clarified, examining the exquisitely done braids running back from his head.

Jamil’s long fingers paused. He looked her way and the beautifully made-up eyes narrowed just the slightest bit, transforming his serious face into something more sinister. “…You’ve got a sharp tongue, Directing Student,” he said softly. “Hope it doesn’t come back to bite you.”

Yuu stared back at that expression evenly, refusing to look away. Despite his obvious fatigue, the fine arts club member in her appreciated how the gold pieces hanging in his hair glowed against his healthy dark skin a few shades deeper than his Dorm Head’s. “So senpai. I’m sure you have a clue about the reason you cut yourself.”

Jamil held her glance for a long moment before he sighed, backing down. “…I won’t stop you, but you should know how dangerous it is for a magicless first-year like you to stick your nose into these things. Your reputation among the rest of the school isn’t the best.”

Yuu wondered if he knew about the students under his care bullying her. She wouldn’t be surprised if he did. “Yeah, I don’t really care.”

“Foolish,” he murmured. “If you don’t think ahead and remove your obstacles, they’ll eventually trip you.”

“Are you going to tell me or not?” she arched a brow at him.

Jamil laid the last samosa on a baking sheet and turned to the oven she’d kept warm. “Follow me.”

The three of them circled one of the kitchen tables, Jamil taking a position on the Dorm Head’s left as Kalim’s snack browned in the oven. The vice Dorm Head flexed the fingers of his injured hand absently as he watched Kalim ask her to pass on the madeleine recipe to Jamil.

Yuu nodded. “Sure, I’ll write it down and give it to you next time I find you.”

“Really? Thanks, Yuu! You’re the best! Hey, pass me another one.”

“Don’t eat too many of those,” Jamil cautioned the Dorm Head. “You’ll put off your dinner.”

“C’mon, Jamil. We’ve been exercising so much more lately ‘cause of the Magift tournament,” Kalim cajoled him.

Jamil completely ignored him. “Directing Student. I said earlier that I felt my consciousness fade for a second.”

“Right.” Yuu frowned. “You think it wasn’t natural?”

“Perhaps almost everyone else would believe it a moment of exhaustion…” Jamil clenched his injured hand, a shadow falling over his eyes. “But I’m familiar with that sensation. It’s almost certainly a type of Unique Magic.”

“Unique Magic,” Yuu repeated, eyes widening. She hadn’t thought about that, but if Riddle could seal someone’s magic and Trey’s could replace it, then it would make sense for someone to be able to…

“I get it,” Kalim nodded, flashing perfectly aligned white teeth, “Jamil would know, since his Unique Magic is _mmmmph!_ ”

Yuu watched Jamil cover his mouth with his blazer immediately and tried not to laugh. These two were truly polar opposites.

Kalim broke free with a gasp. “Hey, why’d you cover my mouth!?” 

“Stop talking about me,” Jamil’s voice rose a little shrilly. “We’re on the topic of the culprit right now!”

“But Jamiiil!”

“You two are hilarious,” Yuu commented with a smile, passing Kalim another madeleine.

“In any case,” Jamil coughed, his voice descending back to its calm baritone. “My best guess is that it’s a spell that can limit the movements of others at will.”

“I see,” Yuu murmured. “What about normal spells? Are there spells that can you know…confuse people or control their minds or whatnot?”

“Normal magic usually focuses on elemental spells,” Kalim explained cheerfully, “but I know a bunch of Unique Magics that can brain _mmmmph!_ ”

“Ka. Lim.”

“Mmmph!!”

Yuu looked at the two struggling students in bemusement. “You two sure get along well.”

“We’re friends!” Kalim beamed, his voice strained as he fought to push Jamil’s hand away from his face.

Jamil scoffed, but whatever he was about to say was overwhelmed with the insistent beep of the oven.

—

By the time Yuu was let go from Heartslabyul, the sun had set completely. She’d ended up sharing the delicious snack Jamil had created because she’d gotten embroiled in a spirited discussion about the nature of magic in this world. As a result, the deliverance of her findings to Riddle ran far later than expected.

“What magic works on someone who doesn’t have any?” Yuu had asked.

Kalim peered over at her through a mouthful of piping hot filling. Crumbs spotted the sides of his mouth.

Yuu elaborated. “Heartslabyul’s Dorm Head has a Unique Magic that seals the magic of others for a short period of time, right? But when he used it on me, nothing happened.”

“Interesting,” Jamil raised an eyebrow. He ate with short, careful bites, but she’d only finished half and he was already through his second. “Usually, the collar itself should snap onto your neck, even if you don’t have magic. The physical aspect of the spell should be unimpeded.”

Yuu wondered if it was because she _did_ have magic—just not the same kind. Did her own magic do something to this magic within her body?

“But elemental spells like offensive magic work, right?” Kalim managed through his food, blowing on his samosa. “Like if I cast a Fire Shot at you, you’ll get burned.”

“That’s right. So I’m wondering if I might be immune to other spells after all.”

“You shouldn’t be,” Jamil said with a frown. “I don’t know what environment you’ve grown up in until now, but there is a clear biological advantage to those who possess magical power in their body.”

Yuu prompted him to continue with a nod.

“Like the hypothetical criminal that can control movements,” Jamil explained willingly enough. “His Unique Magic would work on you just the same as it would work on me. Same with any magic influencing the mind or the body. I’ve seen Unique Magic being used on the non-magical more times than I could count. None of them have been ‘immune’.”

“Come to think of it,” Kalim nodded thoughtfully. He licked his fingers before gasping. “Wait! Yuu! How have you survived in a school full of magic users until now!? You’re like a helpless little salamander!”

Yuu sat up straight in surprise as Kalim lunged halfway across the table. “Whoa!” she put up both hands to steady him. “But I was appointed the Directing Student by Headmaster Crowley, you know. I don’t think anyone would be stupid enough to murder a student like that.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Kalim’s red eyes bore into hers. “You’ve been here for a month and a half. Don’t tell me you don’t see what I’m saying. You really haven’t been hurt?”

“…Kalim,” Jamil, to her surprise, was the one who saved her. “Sit down. It’s none of your business.”

“Yuu’s a good guy, though,” Kalim nevertheless sat back down, puffing out his cheeks in a frown. “And he has no way to defend himself…that’s right! Yuu! Come join Scarabia!”

Jamil gave up and put his head in his hands.

It took nearly an hour of persuasion to assure Kalim that she was, indeed, able to handle herself and didn’t need to go through the mountain of paperwork that would be necessary for a dorm transfer. He didn’t look very convinced, but Yuu was adamant in staying at Ramshackle. She was not about to move to a dorm with people who hated her—plus, there was the issue of her gender.

After her explanation to Riddle of the Unique Magic-resembling symptoms Jamil had suffered—whereupon he, Cater, Grim and the A-Deuce combo had begun whispering among themselves—and dropping off the madeleines at Trey’s, she and Riddle had been caught by Cater and consequently dragged to an impromptu tea party. After that, Ace and Deuce had snagged her in the hallway and introduced her to the other two residents sharing a room with them, upon which the friendly first years whose names she’d forgotten to ask had roped her into a game of Super Smxsh Brothers…

Heartslabyul was, according to Cater, the fullest dormitory in the entire school. Accordingly, there were so many people who had come seeking conversation with her that Yuu was a little overwhelmed. Ace and Deuce still looked on guard whenever a student with a suit painted on their face approached her, and sometimes downright prevented them from introducing themselves, but Yuu was of the mind that Heartslabyul students were quite kind compared to the people she knew at Hogwarts. Especially the ones who were in the Equestrian Club.

Grim, who had gotten far too excited and flailed around during the video game matches, snored in the hollow he’d created between her blazer and uniform shirt. Yuu stifled a yawn and trudged up the cobbled road leading to Ramshackle. She was bone-tired from the long hours of play and prior ‘investigation’…perhaps it would be a good idea to skip the pre-bedtime reading she made a habit of doing and instead sleep early for once.

A gust of autumn wind chilled her skin as she approached Ramshackle’s rusted gate and pushed past it. Yuu sighed into the night and wondered when she would be able to leave this world.

Wondered if she could.

Wondered why her chest was squeezing like this.

Yuu deposited Grim onto her bed along with her school bag before she took a shower, but perhaps her exhaustion had surpassed the event horizon—she left the hot water (fixed by Crowley himself) and dressed in one of Ramshackle’s old nightgowns, completely awake.

The night sky had been punctured open with a thousand tiny dots of light. Yuu clutched a steaming mug of tea using the leaves Grim had stolen from Crowley several weeks ago and tiptoed past the creaky floorboards to shuffle outside in slippers. Her hair, still damp from her shower, fell past her neck to tickle her shoulders.

Idly, she thought she should cut it soon, gazing up at the wisps of cloud floating across the sea of stars. Lights danced around her head, green and yellow, winking in and out of existence as she thought.

Maybe just chop it off like a boy so no one could doubt…

A rustle of grass.

Yuu looked down at the stone steps as a figure melted from the darkness. Her grip tightened on the mug of tea in surprise.

He was tall—she’d been intimidated at Jade’s and Floyd’s height, but this man was even taller, surpassing the two-metre mark and all the lampposts he walked by. As he neared, she saw the neon green of his armband glow warmly in the torchlight burning down the cobbled stone road.

The student—for if he was wearing a uniform, he must be a student—caught sight of her, tilted his head to the side, and came through the gate to approach her. “…Who are you?”

Yuu was too busy gaping at the two magnificent horns sprouting out of his hair to answer. Black with a shimmer of green, they curved outwards and then up and in like a dragon’s.

A feeling of déjà-vu swept over her. Where had she seen this before?

The figure crossed his arms, blinking in matching surprise. Long black lashes shaded his beryl eyes, pupils slit in a way that reminded her of the Norwegian Ridgeback she’d nearly died against as well as Leona’s darker green eyes. Strands of glossy black hair fell past his ears, which were pointed sharply at the corners; when he fixed his gaze on her Yuu could feel in her bones that this unearthly beauty was even less human than the Mermen’s.

And indeed he was beautiful with skin pale like marble. For a moment Yuu fell under the illusion she was appreciating a sculpture before he opened his mouth.

“What a surprise.” The stranger’s voice was unexpectedly soft for someone who was taller than her door. “A human child…and a woman, at that.”

 _Oh no._ Yuu felt a cold sweat bead down her back as the voice broke her from her daze. With her hair down and without Crewel’s protective underwear flattening her front, it was impossible to hide her femininity. Never had she wished for her chest to be flat as much as tonight.

At her continued (involuntary) silence, the horned student lifted one glove in askance. “Are you perhaps living here, human child? This mansion was abandoned long ago…as a spot where I could spend time quietly, alone, I was quite fond of it.”

The eyes narrowed in displeasure.

Yuu had always loved dragons. Before she’d known magic, she’d read countless stories of dragon-slaying, of being slain, of heroes and villains and the great threat—the beautiful, horrifying, powerful dragons that roasted cities and worlds alive with their fury. And after her admittance to Hogwarts, she’d been so enamoured with the visiting dragon tamers in their Care of Magical Creatures classes that she’d begged all sorts of teachers until she’d been able to meet Charlie Weasley and Norberta again.

This man was wearing a human form, but more than anyone she’d met, he resembled the dragons she had fought against, worked with, loved. Whether it was the resemblance or the mysterious aura he wore that tickled her Ravenclaw interest, Yuu was already caught.

“Who are you?” she found herself asking, feeling as if she wasn’t quite walking in reality.

“…Who am I, you say?” Yuu was treated to the beryl eyes widening in genuine shock. The man crossed his arms over his bright green Pen tucked inside the uniform blazer he wore. “You don’t know of me? Truly?”

Yuu nodded honestly, not trusting herself to speak. She was still staring at the dark green shine to his black hair and the way the moonlight caught his horns.

The student smiled slowly so that she shivered. “…Hmm. I see. That is quite…unusual, indeed. What do they call you, human child?”

“Yuu,” she told him distantly. “I was assigned by the Headmaster to be a Directing Student here. I’m a first year.”

He supported his chin with one gloved hand, looking down at her in thought. “Yuu…an unusual name with an unusual ring. There is an extraordinary glow within you, human child…something that shouldn’t exist here. How interesting.”

Yuu gazed up at this person. “And your name is…”

“I am…” the man lowered his eyelids briefly. “…No, I’ll refrain from telling you for now.”

“Sorry?” Yuu blinked.

The smile he gave her next was gentler. “Little human female, it is much more to your benefit not to know my name. If you were to know, I am sure you would suffer fear worse than the chill of frost against your skin.”

“Are you someone dangerous?” Yuu asked him curiously. Or was he just another prideful student who liked to put on airs?

The wind blew and blocked her vision. The person across from her brushed back her lengthening bangs to examine her eyes. “…Not to you,” he said at last, gloved fingers tracing her cheek before he drew back. “As an exception to the child who is so innocent, I will grant you the privilege of calling me any name you would like.”

Privilege. Maybe this person was kind of standoffish after all. Yuu challenged, “Any name at all?”

The horned student revealed his teeth in a predatory smile—his canines were long and sharp. “Though it may result in you regretting it dearly.”

She ignored the threat; Yuu squinted, mind racing. What on earth could she call this stranger? Dragon? Hornsby? Pointy Ears? Despite her enjoyment of the fine arts, Yuu had no naming sense to fit her lack of spatial orientation. One time she’d tried to name a new-born hippogriff ‘Hippogriff’ and sent the accompanying Fred II into a fit of hysterics so loud that he’d gotten five House Points docked.

Time to stall. “Was this place yours before?” she asked, shivering as a burst of wind cut her way. She’d have to ask Grim what names a giant horned person could have.

The man shifted a step to the right; the wind stopped. “One of my favourite spots within the school,” he nodded, “but if you have been assigned here, it is no longer a ruin; thus, no longer a spot I like. How disappointing.”

She smiled sheepishly. “Um, sorry…”

“It is not wise to express your apologies so lightly,” he cautioned her.

“I mean…I’ve inadvertently destroyed one of your favourite spots,” Yuu looked around her. “It’s not much, but would you like a cup of tea? I took a sip, but it’s still warm.”

The man raised both of his thin brows as she extended the steaming mug towards him. Slowly, he reached out and took it, as if he had never been offered tea before. His green eyes were soft in the steam as he smiled at her. “You have my appreciation.”

This school really was full of good-looking people, Yuu thought absently as the man took a long draw. He made even a sip of tea look like a scene from a beauty commercial. “It’s the least I could do.”

“If I remember correctly,” he lowered the cup at length, fixing that unearthly gaze on her again. “This school was for boys, was it not? How was it that a small female child came to be a Directing Student?”

Yuu laughed nervously. “Well, you see…it’s a long story. Would you like to come in? The wind’s picking up.”

Her counterpart stood still for a long moment as he examined her. Yuu met his stare curiously. But he only shook his head with a musical laugh. “…Fearless human child, I will take exception this once, but do be careful inviting those like me into your abode.”

“You could be dangerous,” she agreed, “but you look so interesting. I really like learning things. Won’t you teach me about you?”

—

“…so I was trying to think up of a name for…” Yuu squinted down at Grim, who was fidgeting on her shoulder. “Grim?”

“Yeah? What’s up, henchman?” Grim rubbed his cheek obligingly against hers. He wrinkled his nose. “You smell weird again. What is this scent?”

Yuu gave him a strange look. Usually, her dorm mate was only this physically friendly when he was begging for a second can of tuna.

“What’s up with you?” she asked curiously as she followed behind Ace and Deuce to exit the alchemy classroom. Yuu rubbed at the remnants her (Crewel-provided) goggles had left on her cheeks as she stuffed them in her book bag.

“Nothing, nothing. What were you saying?”

“Just trying to think up of a nickname for a really tall student,” Yuu repeated. “With horns.”

“Horns?” Grim wrinkled his nose. “Like Tsuno-tarou?”

By this point she was ready to give up. “Uh, yeah. Sure. Tsuno-tarou it is.” Yuu wondered if this would piss the student off, but to be honest, she wasn’t willing to invest any more effort into finding him a name that wasn’t something stupid like ‘greenie’ or ‘dragon’.

“Henchman,” Grim whispered to her, “Ace and Deuce and me are going to go chase after the culprit after school.”

Yuu blinked, dragging her attention back to him as she settled into her usual spot between Ace and Deuce. “You guys found out who he is?”

“Grim did,” Ace said cheekily. “Guess that Cutlet Sandwich was worth it, no?”

“I’m gonna slap ten of those sandwiches out of him,” Grim cracked his knuckles (which, considering his tiny paws, should have been impossible).

Deuce patted her shoulder. “Anyway, the bell’s going to ring in a few minutes, but Dorm Head and Diamond-senpai are going to go around to his class to corner him first. But you’re kind of bad at looking intimidating, so…”

“Kind of?” Ace snorted. “This kid can set a world record for the _cutest_ boy. Or the most athletically unimpressive.”

“Yes, yes, we can’t all be blessed in athletics like mister Ace of the basketball team,” Yuu droned, bumping him with her hip.

Deuce sighed. “ _But_ Yuu is excellent at observation.”

Yuu blinked. “You think?”

“We’re buddies,” Deuce gave her that smile she liked so much. “You think we wouldn’t notice? Anyway, we were thinking of putting you down by the entrance to Main Street so you could keep an eye on any other suspicious figures while we drilled the culprit.”

“No objections here,” Yuu nodded. “And I’ll ask around to see if anyone else got hurt.”

“’Atta kid.” Ace stretched out his fist; Deuce and Yuu reached out and bumped knuckles while Grim squinted at the three limbs confusedly. “So we’ll be borrowing Grim for a while. Wish us luck!”

Yuu waved them off and descended the stairs to exit the castle. Someone jeered at her, but they didn’t try to block her way or trip her, which was unusually kind of them; she headed straight down the endless spiral of steps past the circular stone fencing that ringed the interior gardens and stopped at the large open expanse of Main Street, where those seven Dixney statues stood tall.

Friday afternoon saw a larger crush of students than usual. Yuu was careful to avoid the groups with the rouge and yellow Scarabia armbands, but she tried her best to keep a listening ear out as she mingled into the crowd heading for the entranceway.

“—gotta try this new game, it’s—”

“Can you believe that dick said that? He—”

“…date this weekend, so I can’t—”

“—gift tourney’s in two weeks and a day already. Though…looks like our team’s pretty terrible this year.”

Yuu wandered closer to the last speaker, scanning the crowd. He was wearing an unfamiliar electric blue-and-black armband that she guessed was from the elusive Ignihyde.

“Yeah,” his friend, sporting the same armband, sighed. “I mean, ’Hyde’s got nothing to do with the normies that run around chasing a flying disc, but the three kids who actually _like_ sports in this dorm are all out.”

“You think it’s on purpose?”

“Who cares? If I had time to come up with conspiracy theories, I’d be grinding this week’s event.”

“Man, you really are addicted. Don’t spend all your money on Quartz, fool.”

“Says the guy who keeps hogging my controller to play Xekiro.”

“Dude, that game is just good, all right? You _need_ to play it after me. And let me watch while you die over and over.”

“But if anyone was going to do something about the meagre Magift team, it would be Dorm Head, right? Why isn’t he investigating?”

“Are you kidding me? Shroud-senpai hasn’t left his room in a week. Ortho-kun said it was nothing more than a few sprains after he examined the kids, so who cares. Serves ‘em right for being so careless.”

“…True. For a ’Hyde to be taken off guard so easily and get injured…pretty embarrassing.”

“We should go heckle ’em in the infirmary later on.”

“Just steal their tablets or something, that’ll get ’em.”

Yuu reached the entranceway at the end of NRC’s long spiral down its school doors and broke off from the group she’d been listening in on to stand on the side of the wide cobblestone road. It was her first time seeing students from Ignihyde—usually, they didn’t even show up in the cafeteria for lunch—and she wondered why these two students were, well, visible. Cater had said something about them disliking being out in the open.

Still, it wasn’t her business, and she’d gleaned some useful information. Three Ignihyde students had been injured with minor sprains, all of them originally on the Magift team. Yet the students’ callous attitude suggested that Magift was neither appreciated nor celebrated within Ignihyde.

Just what did they mean when they’d said someone called ‘Shroud’ hadn’t left his room in a week?

Yuu frowned out at the sea of black uniforms flooding out into the fields, looking aimlessly around. How long was she supposed to be here listening in, anyway? The weather had been gloomy these past few days, and because of her meeting with Tsuno-tarou last night—he was so interesting, and they’d carried the conversation too long—she’d been running on lack of sleep and an abundance of cafeteria coffee the entire day.

She fidgeted with her book bag and decided that once this big crowd of students disappeared, Yuu would make a beeline for the gardens. She needed a nap. Hopefully Leona would be…

Leona’s dull eyes flashed through her mind.

“Whoa!” someone passing by yelped in surprise. “What the—!?”

Yuu snapped out of her thoughts just in time to see a figure ducking low and worming expertly through the gap between two Pomefiore students. When he straightened, she caught sight of the two wide brown triangular ears and head of honey-blond hair.

“Whoops,” Ruggie Bucchi gave the two strangers an unrepentant grin. “You guys should move faster, ya know?”

“Why, I never—!?”

“Ruggie-senpai,” Yuu called, waving. “Headed to the gardens?”

“Yuu-kun,” Ruggie turned towards her, his smile widening and those ears pointing up in her direction. Yuu fought the urge to touch them as he hopped expertly through gaps in groups of students to approach her, leaving behind the two spluttering Pomefiore students. “That’s right. What’cha doing over here?”

“Human observation?” Yuu shrugged. “If you’re going to the gardens, can I come with you?”

“Depends on what you’ve got for me today.”

“They were having a tea party yesterday in Heartslabyul,” Yuu said cheerfully, falling into step with him as Ruggie laced his hands behind his head comfortably. “So I have a bunch of cookies and—get this— _macarons_.”

He whistled. “Sounds like the kind of food a bunch of uselessly rich young masters would be snacking on for afternoon tea.”

“I made some madeleines too,” Yuu remembered. “You should try them; I think they came out all right. The texture should be the kind you enjoy the most.”

Ruggie side-eyed her with those big grey eyes. “Are you trying to win me over with food?”

Yuu gave him a grin. “You don’t want any?”

He sighed dramatically. “Oh, woe is me to be such a weak man. Yet I cannot overcome my stomach!”

“I think you should eat more,” Yuu rolled her eyes. “Maybe it’s ‘cause you’re an ectomorph, but sometimes I get worried just looking at your wrists.”

“ _You?_ Get worried about _me?_ ” Ruggie peered down at her incredulously. “Yuu-kun. Look at yourself. You’re like fifteen centimetres smaller than me and you look like a stick.”

“Really? I think I’ve gained some weight since school started.”

“That’s probably true too. But worry about yourself first, you li’l dummy.” He flicked her in the forehead.

“Oww.” Yuu rubbed it sulkily. “If you keep abusing me I’m going to eat the macarons in front of your face.”

“You mean these?”

Yuu blinked as Ruggie dangled the box of sweets she’d tucked into her bag from his bony hand. “…Senpai…you should do something about those sticky fingers of yours.”

“Don’t make me sound like a klepto,” he rolled his eyes, “I haven’t stolen from you that much.”

“Why would you need to steal anything from me?” Yuu raised a brow. “I’m poor as dirt. You sure like showing off, don’t you?”

“Of course not,” Ruggie passed the box back to her cheerfully. “I’m just in a good mood today.”

Having Ruggie with her gave Yuu a measure of confidence to face Leona without any awkwardness. The hyena Therianthrope was never still for long enough to let a heavy atmosphere develop—perhaps on purpose—and he and Leona certainly shared a stronger bond than hers.

After Yuu had declared she wanted to learn from him, wanted to become like him, Ruggie’s caution around her seemed to dissolve into slightly condescending amusement. His signature nickname for her was ‘li’l dummy,’ but Yuu didn’t mind, because there was a reluctant note of entertainment in his voice that told her she’d passed that unfriendly bump in his attitude.

Yuu liked Ruggie for his practicality, for his ruthlessness, for the times when he would steal her pencil from her fingers just to show her he wasn’t as ‘safe’ of a student as the others. But he was an unusually good-humoured fellow when separated from his gluttony. It was probably how he put up with the surly Leona for so long, and Yuu was sure that despite Ruggie’s denial of their friendship that the two of them were as close as she and Ace and Deuce. As Trey and Riddle.

Leona was, once again, lying in his usual clearing, though this time he was stretched out flat on his back with one muscled arm slung over his eyes. Ruggie ignored him and sat down on a soft patch of grass a little ways away before looking up at her expectantly, his two large ears cocked in her direction.

Yuu had always loved animals, magical or not. When Ruggie turned his head like that she felt her breath catch— _cute!_ There was no other word to describe those huge limpid grey eyes peeking upwards at her through his honey-brown bangs. He was almost as cute as Grim when the Monster was trying to beg for her attention. She supposed it was part of the reason she was so willing to give him food—feeding magical creatures had been one of her favourite jobs as an intern.

The two of them pulled out their homework as they ate. It was a tacit agreement that they got it over with quickly—Ruggie found some of the things they learned laughably impractical. “It wouldn’t even pad my stomach,” he had snorted about the Astrology class the second years took. So he scribbled down answers at a breakneck pace while Yuu plodded through her assignments more slowly, trying to keep up with him.

A large black glove stretched out from behind her shoulder to pull a madeleine from her fingers. When Yuu looked upwards in surprise, Leona was masking a yawn as he lounged behind her, his own ears pressing low on his head with the movement. “Did you start a baking club or something? With all the food you bring, I’m surprised you haven’t filled out more.”

There was no trace of the empty expression that had chased her nightmares. Yuu masked a sigh of relief. “Heartslabyul had a tea party yesterday.”

Leona snorted. “Just like them to take part in such a useless bourgeoise activity.”

“Sometimes you and Ruggie-senpai say the exact same things, you know,” Yuu set down her pencil and turned around to observe him chewing on the madeleine. His tail swished back and forth with energy—he seemed to enjoy it. A hit, then.

“It’s the truth. Even the royal family of the Afterglow Savannah don’t waste time on _tea parties_.” Leona sniffed.

Yuu scooted closer in curiosity. “Afterglow Savannah?”

“…Right. It’s one of the larger countries in Twisted Wonderland.” Leona explained willingly enough. “Ruggie and I both live there. Before we came here, anyway.”

“What a cool name,” Yuu said a little enviously, “I should get permission from the Headmaster to go visit the other countries in this world.”

“Whatever. You done your homework?”

“Almost,” Yuu pulled her Magical Analysis problem set over. “I don’t really know what this last question is asking.”

“Let me see.” Leona bent over her shoulder and hummed. “You’re supposed to use the two new equations Trein probably taught you today one after another. Pass me the pencil.”

Yuu passed him the pencil. “Why are you being so nice today?”

He gave her a look. “You can’t play chess with me until you’re done, right?”

“Oh come on! I lost _ten times_ last time we played!”

From behind them, Ruggie mumbled something about not understanding their relationship and about Leona’s hobby being just as bougie as a tea party, but when the third year pulled out a chessboard, he shoved his notebook away and scooted to her other side to watch. Yuu caught herself reaching out for his oversized sleeve and scolded herself harshly.

Just because she thought he was a cute animal and respected him didn’t mean she could lose all restraint.

Yuu wondered absently if she should fix her habit of needing human contact.

—

Yuu arrived at Mostro Lounge for her Saturday shift unusually well rested. It might have had to do with her super-effective nap yesterday afternoon in the warm gardens. Her body must have decided that Leona’s clearing counted as a ‘safe space’, because sometime through their fifth game, her memory cut off.

By the time she’d woken up, dusk had fallen and she was curled up warmly against the grass. Neither of the Savanaclaw students were in sight, but when she sat up, Ruggie’s oversized blazer fell off her shoulders. It smelled excellent and insulated even better.

Tucked in her hand was a scrap of paper that read, _don’t fall asleep in front of predators, li’l dummy_ in messy lettering. But she didn’t regret it. With this nap and a full night’s sleep (post her daily report to Heartslabyul), Yuu thought that she could even deal with Floyd Leech without shrinking back today.

Once changed into her waiter uniform, she ducked through the hall—a couple of students sipping soda snickered at the ‘tiny new waiter’ moving across the Lounge—before entering the VIP room, where Azul had called her. Like usual, he sat behind the huge wooden desk, lavender coat draped across his suit jacket elegantly, a stack of paper piling up on his right side.

“Ah, you’re early. Take a seat.”

Yuu perched on the side of the couch like usual, tucking her notebook under her arm to wait for him. It was, by now, customary for her to watch as Azul took care of whatever job he was right in the middle of, because he was always busy. She wondered if his sleep was as fitful as hers. Just how much work could a person do without getting sick?

“Can I help you with whatever you’re doing?” she blurted out.

Azul glanced up at her briefly. “No, you won’t be able to,” he said absently. “Twelve-point-five multiplied by one-twenty is fifteen hundred plus…”

“Okay then.” Yuu left him to his mental calculations with a sort of disgusted interest. She was nowhere as good at maths as this person was.

Perhaps ten minutes later, two soft knocks echoed against the door before Jade entered the room noiselessly. The smile on his face was wider than usual, and a sparkle brightened his heterochromatic eyes with excitement. He was carrying two plates on one arm.

“Not now, Jade,” Azul said without looking up. “The customers are?”

“Taken care of,” Jade replied smoothly. “Good day, Mister Directing Student.”

“Hello Leech-senpai,” Yuu smiled back, wondering if she should drill him on information about his brother.

Yuu had never bullied anyone before. She wasn’t feeling very confident. If it didn’t go well, she might go to Ace the great bullying expert for help. After all, he’d even bullied Riddle, as Deuce had taken great lengths to explain to her, while she was unconscious post-Overblot.

Ignorant of her thoughts, Jade crossed over to the couch and set the two plates down. “You’ve come at just the right time, Mister Directing Student. Why, the other day I was lucky enough to succeed at a new recipe and would _love_ for you to be a taste-tester.”

Yuu blinked at him and then looked down at the heaping plates of food. “Stuffed mushrooms?”

“Ah, but not just any mushrooms. For anyone to get their hands on Portobellos this fresh and large is quite a feat, don’t you know?”

She eyed Jade carefully as she took a spot across from him and set her notebook down. Despite his perfectly ironed-out appearance, two spots of pink burned high in his cheekbones and the sparkle in his eyes had brightened considerably.

“Leech-senpai,” Yuu said carefully, “are you all right?”

“All _right_!” Jade gasped. “I have never been better. Do you see this lustre? This shine! Come on and take a bite, I promise you’ll like it.”

Yuu edged backwards. “I’m going to ask just in case. Is it poisoned?”

He broke into low, rather creepy laughter, the kind that preceded an evil villain’s loud _mwahaha_ ; Jade bent over to smile into her face so wide that she gulped. “Why, I’m shocked that you would think so lowly of me.”

“Jade,” Azul set his last sheet of paper aside and sighed. “Stop scaring the poor Directing Student with your mushroom mania. He looks more afraid of you than he does of Floyd.”

Yuu looked past Jade’s shoulder at him and pointed at the plates with wide eyes.

Azul coughed to hide a chuckle. “They’re probably not poisoned,” he said wearily. “Jade enjoys picking mushrooms and creating dishes with them. To our dismay.”

“Mushroom mania?” Yuu cocked her head to the side, turning back to Jade a little reassured. “There aren’t fungi below the sea?”

“Almost none,” Jade said dreamily, handing her a fork. “Which is why Land is so interesting, don’t you think? My first year here I fell head over heels for the maitake I found past the forest. Please, take a bite, I promise it tastes good.”

“Ashengrotto-senpai.”

“What is it, Yuu-san?”

Yuu gave Jade a careful once-over. “He hasn’t eaten any hallucinogenic mushrooms, has he?”

Azul bent over shaking. “No…” he managed, “no he hasn’t, just—pfft—try the mushrooms before you set him off on a tangent.”

Unsurprisingly, the stuffed mushrooms were delicious. Jade had managed to bake them so that the outsides were crispy and the filling was soft without being wet. Yuu chewed slowly as Jade stared at her with those slightly creepy sparkling eyes. He looked a little deranged.

“Well?” he demanded. “Well, well, well? What do you think?”

Yuu bit back her next words telling him he should get checked in to the infirmary and thought for a while. “You were trying to pull out the flavour of the Portobellos, right? So you didn’t add much spice or flavouring to the stuffing. It tastes very good, but I think that if you were a bit more daring with the insides it would be even better.”

Jade blinked at her. “But the mushrooms will get overwhelmed.”

“Not necessarily. I mean you put the innards you cut out back in the filling, right? If you get rid of the chicken insides and replace them for vegetables…like red pepper, onion, parsley, garlic, egg…” Yuu ticked off, “and take it easy on the turmeric or something I think it would taste better. If you make the mushroom _this_ prominent within the meal, people who aren’t mushroom fans will probably get sick after one or two of them.”

She stuffed the rest of the mushroom in her mouth (pun intended) and looked up. Both Azul and Jade were staring at her again. Yuu, who was starting to get used to this ‘what planet did you come from’ series of looks, ignored them and savoured the impromptu meal. Saturday’s lunchtime rush had just faded, and she’d had no time to eat, so any food was welcome. Jade was a great cook.

“Are you a food critic?” Azul asked after a few moments, pressing his glasses up.

“You should hear my partner Grim go on and on about food,” Yuu told him dryly. “I never knew someone could wax and wane about tuna so eloquently when his usual vocabulary leaves so much to be desired.”

“Mister Directing Student,” Jade’s face glowed. “Please repeat what you said just one more time.”

Yuu swallowed the rest of her food and obliged him—the politer Leech twin had whipped out a notebook and scribbled down her offhand advice enthusiastically as she spoke. She had only seen this slightly manic part of him once before, when he’d called her interesting, but if this was how he behaved in front of things he really liked then comparatively, she was nothing more than a leaf lying around somewhere.

“I was a member of the fine arts club,” she answered Azul sheepishly, “so I tend to be picky about stuff like appearances, art, food, music, stuff like that.”

“Appearances?” he repeated, looking down his nose at her. “I’ll admit that you dress neatly, but with that ungainly mop of hair covering most of your face, I find that hard to believe.”

“Right, I should probably cut it or something,” Yuu tugged at her bangs thoughtfully. “I mean I look pretty unimpressive anyway, so I gave up about myself a long time ago.”

“You don’t look unimpressive,” Azul gave her a strange look, “what are you talking about, Yuu-san?”

“Hm?” Yuu returned his confused stare. “But I don’t stand out at all.”

“At first glance,” Jade corrected absently.

“At all,” she refuted. “In fact, people seem to dislike seeing my face.”

“Who told you that?”

“Who told me that?” Yuu tried to recall the many instances. “…Uh. Everyone?”

Her employer started to frown, anger darkening his sea-spray eyes, but before he could open his mouth to respond, the door bounced open against the wall with a loud _bang_.

“Hey Azu~l,” Floyd slouched inside, scratching the back of his neck, “The lounge is pretty empty so I… _geh!_ ”

Yuu turned towards him tensely, but he wasn’t even looking in her direction. Floyd had his face screwed up in an almost comical expression of disgust as he stared down at the plates of mushrooms set on the seawater-glass table.

“Jade,” he started weakly.

“Floyd!” Jade’s smile widened just enough to show the beginnings of his sharp teeth. “Why, you’re just in time. I was just explaining to Mister Directing Student here about the Portobellos I managed to pick the other day. You and Azul should have some too.”

Azul slid off his chair to take a spot beside Jade with a long sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Just one, all right? I don’t have time for this nonsense.”

“ _Oya oya_. You don’t eat enough at all, Azul, so it’s not nonsense, it’s taking care of your health,” Jade passed him a fork mildly.

Yuu examined the exchange between the Dorm Head and vice Dorm Head and wondered at their relationship. They seemed to behave politely towards everyone, but Azul’s polite speech fell apart a little when he spoke to Jade and Floyd. And despite his whole ‘I only care about profits’ schtick, here he was, obediently taste-testing Jade’s mushroom meal. Just because they were friends?

“I think I’m gonna—” Floyd began weakly, taking a step back into the doorway.

“Floyd,” Jade cut him off with a wonderfully polite smile, “you owe me.”

Yuu stared in bewilderment as the taller Leech slunk around to her couch and pushed her aside to slump on her left. He looked like a man heading off to the gallows, but he sat down without another complaint.

“I thought you couldn’t control him,” she mumbled at Jade.

“Control? Why, I never.” Jade’s smile didn’t change. “I’m being kind enough to bring him in as a taste-tester. Plus, the other day I saved his life in Flight class.”

Yuu nearly responded dryly that blackmail wasn’t very nice—but a lightbulb turned on in her head.

Wait.

Wasn’t this bullying?

She sat up straight. The highest form of bullying! And she hadn’t even had to ask for information about Floyd.

Yuu eagerly turned to Azul, who was chewing absently on a mushroom as he scrolled through something on his phone. “Ashengrotto-senpai, does Leech-senpai usually do this?”

“Jade loves mushrooms.” Azul answered her readily. He swallowed. “Floyd, his, ah, victim, usually has to eat half of his creations. I have become the third victim, of course, which is why I’ve developed a trauma towards certain species. This time it seems relatively harmless, but that great trumpet-shaped black mushroom will haunt my nightmares forever…”

“Stop, Azul,” Floyd covered his mouth. “I’ll hurl.”

“Senpai,” Yuu looked at Jade in admiration, “you bully your brother so easily.”

“Shut it,” The brother in question snapped, looking ill. “I think I have a mushroom allergy now. Can I leave?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jade said cheerfully. “Mushroom based foods are delicious, good for the body, and can pair with anything. It’s the perfect food. Now eat up, Floyd, before it gets cold.”

“I don’t wanna eat shiitake,” Floyd whined.

“These are Portobellos,” Yuu corrected, starting to grin in heartfelt joy.

“Shut up, Koebi-chan. All mushrooms are the same.”

Jade gasped comically, covering his mouth with one perfectly fitted glove. “I can’t believe he just said that.”

Sometimes Yuu wondered if she had Felix Felicis running through her veins. Just when she had been thinking up ways to get under Floyd’s skin—to remove that white-faced _something_ in his eyes—his brother introduced kryptonite to her so easily.

There was no way she wouldn’t use this. In Ruggie’s words, she would take every scrap she could get. Yuu speared a stuffed mushroom with her fork and offered it to Floyd, trying desperately to hide her smile. “Here, want some help?”

Azul made a funny choking noise and dropped his phone.

Floyd stared at her, his face going utterly slack. “Koebi-chan?” his voice was as small as a mosquito’s.

Yuu almost backed down—it was unfair that a one-hundred-and-ninety-one-centimetre man could make such a perfect sad puppy face—but she remembered those long fingers digging into her shoulders and steeled her resolve. “Strang—no, Leech-senpai. Mushrooms are full of antioxidants, you know. They’ve got protein and fibre and vitamins B and D.”

“Mister _Directing_ Student,” Jade breathed admiringly.

“Not to mention the chewy texture that resembles meat while not being meat,” Yuu inched forwards, mirroring Floyd’s slow leaning backwards as he started to sweat. “And even better, they increase cognitive capacity while tasting so good. The ingredients in this recipe are turmeric, chicken, shredded cheddar cheese…”

“Koebi-chan,” Floyd burst out, “get that thing away from me.”

“Oh c’mon, it can’t be that bad,” Yuu gave up on hiding her giggles. “Just one mushroom. It tastes really good. Well, the Portobello flavour is a little strong…”

“No way!” he wailed. “No way am I eating this! Get away from me Koebi-chan! You’re just a little prey!”

“Say a~h,” Yuu sang, pushing the fork over to his mouth.

Jade snorted uncharacteristically loudly. “Mister,” he began before collapsing into a fit of laughter. “—Ha ha. Mister Directing Student, you shouldn’t tell _him_ of all people to ‘say _aah_ ’…”

Yuu squinted at him. “But you wanted him to eat it, right?”

“…Right.” His voice trembled. “…Right. Floyd, please give up and try the mushrooms.”

“You jerks! Monsters!” Floyd flailed as his back hit the side of the couch. “Koebi-chan are you still holding a grudge from a few nights ago?! Stoppit!”

“Say ahh,” she repeated through her laughter.

“Remember this,” Floyd told her rapidly, face turning blue, “I swear I’ll _mmmph!_ ”

—

“I underestimated you,” Azul told her with genuine admiration brightening his lilting voice. “To think that you could so utterly get back at Floyd…I was so sure that you would have let his, ah, strangling incident go.”

“I mean, he keeps bullying me,” Yuu plopped down beside him in the otherwise empty VIP room. She held up two fingers in a V sign for victory. “So I figured it wouldn’t be unfair to bully him back a little.”

Azul laughed. “I take back my advice about apologizing and keeping your head down,” he said high-spiritedly. “You never fail to surpass my expectations. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“Maybe I surprised him a little today…”

“Surprised is a bit of an understatement, isn’t it? You’ve disabled him for an entire afternoon.”

“…But,” she ignored him, “next time I see him he’s probably going to murder me happily.”

She recalled the chaos that had overtaken Mostro Lounge’s VIP room just a few moments ago. After she’d force-fed Floyd the stuffed mushroom, he’d swallowed with a blue face before staring at her like she had grown three heads. Jade wore the biggest smile she’d ever seen and had even clapped for her, making a 10 sign with his fingers. This guy was just enjoying others being tortured, she’d thought. But when Floyd had stopped functioning, his brother took enough pity on him to manage, between snickers, that he was going to haul him back to his room.

She and the Dorm Head had watched the twins go—one being dragged bodily—but Floyd had not recovered the entire way out of the lounge.

Yuu felt good about herself. She was also sure she would become fried shrimp next time Floyd laid eyes on her. It was a good thing she had no more shifts until November (plus the Magift tourney stand job). Maybe she should beg some mushrooms off Jade to hold like a cross before a vampire for protection?

Azul crossed his arms and considered her with those intelligent eyes unreadable behind his thin glasses. “…In return for showing me something quite nice, I’ll give you a piece of advice,” he lifted a hand haughtily. “You should fix your low opinion of yourself. And it might be hard to tell, but Floyd doesn’t hate you, not really.”

Yuu gaped at him. “Um, what? Did you see that glare he gave me?”

“Throughout all of my years at sea and on Land, I have indeed never seen anyone as hard to read as those two twins,” Azul sighed, “but we’ve been together for a long time. Floyd would not leave you alive—excuse me, he would not allow you to be here if he truly wanted you out.”

Ignoring the slightly unsettling words in his sentence, Yuu examined him back. Perhaps it was because he wasn’t sitting so pompously behind his desk surrounded by papers and silhouetted by the giant golden wheel, but Azul sitting beside her looked as young as his seventeen years and less the leader of a crime syndicate. Without that coat draped over his shoulders, the line of his face was more delicate, the shadows under his eyes darker. He gazed into the seawater table as if walking through a distant past, the ocean reflected in his eyes.

“You’ve known them for a long time?”

“That’s right,” Azul murmured, silver lashes falling down over his gaze briefly. “The two of them are geniuses—both of them unbelievably so, although Jade seems to consider himself ‘normal’ compared to his brother. It’s often said that geniuses come with a few quirks, no? As you can tell, this is the case for both of them. Floyd, especially, eschews responsibility and social order with aplomb.”

Yuu remembered what Jade had said in the kitchen as they washed dishes together. “He only does what he wants?”

“And he’s afforded that luxury because once his switch is on, everything he does is perfect.” Azul shrugged. “In a way, you’ll never find someone more honest than Floyd. He won’t hide his loathing of you if he hates you. He won’t let you stick around if he doesn’t want you here.”

Yuu remembered those inhuman eyes boring into hers as he squeezed her neck. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want me here.”

“Then you still have a lot to learn about reading him,” Azul sighed, lifting both hands in a dismissive gesture. “I suggest you start now. If you keep misunderstanding him, there will be problems down the line that come back to hurt you again. I should know.”

“You went through the same thing?” She grinned, trying to imagine Jade and Floyd in a verbal match with him. It was impossible.

“With both of them,” Azul grimaced. “Surprisingly, it looks like you’ve got a good handle on Jade’s personality, which is rare—I don’t think I recognized that guy’s true nature until over a year after we first met. But Floyd is both simpler and more complicated than I think you give him credit for.”

“Thanks, that isn’t confusing at _all_ ,” Yuu said dryly. “…I recently met someone who shares some similarities with Leech-senpai, so I’ve just had practice identifying people who are ah…”

Both of them shared a commiserating glance. Even apart from his mushroom mania (which Yuu found endlessly entertaining—of _course_ this person would be obsessed with something like mushrooms), Jade balanced on a thin ledge overseeing a vat of roiling darkness that easily rivalled Floyd’s low moods.

He almost resembled Trey.

“…I’m not surprised.” Azul massaged the bridge of his nose tiredly. “This is Night Raven College, after all. I’m sure that even you are aware that there are no people of virtue within this place?”

“I’ve been told.” Yuu gave him a cheeky smile. “What about your merciful heart, senpai? Isn’t everyone in Octavinelle supposed to be good to the needy?”

Azul laughed, his brows drawing together in an expression similar to Jade’s (fake) troubled one. It fit him unbelievably well—the coldness in those sea-spray eyes sent a jolt of caution up her spine. “Oh, Yuu-san,” he crooned, “you have _no_ idea.”

Yuu examined that slightly unhinged smile curiously. There really were no good people here—but all of them were so interesting, dressed in layer after layer like a matryoshka doll with a centre she could not see. Azul was one of the people she still didn’t quite know what to make of.

His business acumen, his exceptional effort, his insistence at closing his hands over every opportunity he could find almost reminded her of Ruggie’s opportunism. Yet where Ruggie lived scraping the edges of society, wearing uniforms too big for him—that he’d told her were hand-me-downs from Leona—and ducking through gaps in students and pickpocketing her like an expert swindler, Azul was almost obsessive about his appearance and manner. Jade dressed neatly, but Azul arranged his coat elegantly over his clothing like a pro, masterfully turning his polite words around his opponent with his suit unbuttoned just enough to show that his insides were(n’t) pure white. Never did he complain about his effort—never did he show his weaknesses.

Azul was both everything like Ruggie and nothing like him. Ruggie’s smile was mischievous and hid an animal ferocity sharp as a knife—Azul’s smile was cold and allowed a glimpse of the lightless ocean depths swimming with all creatures dangerous and unknown.

Yuu had stared for too long. Azul lost the malice in his glance and coughed at her uncomfortably. “What?”

She couldn’t say that she was trying to psychoanalyze him right to his face. “You three seem to get along really well though.”

“Well, it’s a matter of familiarity,” Azul started before he clapped a hand over his mouth in horror.

Yuu frowned confusedly. “What? Something wrong?”

Abruptly, Azul scooted back to the edge of the couch away from her. “Yuu-san…” he said weakly. “Has anyone told you were a frightening individual?”

She would have shaken her head no, but this reaction had matched Ruggie’s exactly after she’d asked him how she could ‘be more like him’. Back then, the hyena Therianthrope had dashed all the way across the clearing, one hand over his mouth just like Azul’s, and worked his mouth for a full minute before he managed, “You’re frickin’ _terrifying_.”

“Um, recently. Did I do something wrong?” Yuu wrinkled her nose.

“Yes! You…you…!”

“Me,” she echoed.

“Anyway! Do something about that lack of self-awareness you have!” Azul spluttered, changing the topic as his visible ear flamed. “No wonder Headmaster Crowley labelled the reason for your entrance as ‘animal tamer’…but how can you do that without even realizing you’re doing anything…? No wait…could I use this…?”

He descended into muttering. After two minutes, Yuu opened her notebook to pull him out of it—Azul could go on forever if someone didn’t step in. “So we were originally supposed to be discussing the ideas for booths, right?”

He gave her a critical look, but breathed out a long sigh to steady himself. “I see you took it seriously.”

“It was in my contract.” Yuu tilted her head to the side. “Did you not want me to come up with ideas?”

“I didn’t expect you to be so…conscientious about it.” Azul took her outstretched notebook with a sniff. “Nothing like the students of this dorm.”

She didn’t know if it were a compliment or a disparagement. Yuu stayed quiet while Azul paged through the three sheets of ideas she’d listed for items to sell at the booths—most of them had been taken from theme parks and fairs held back in muggle England and other countries she’d read about on Wikipxdia.

Yuu had expected him to laugh through his nose condescendingly before dismissing her ideas as foolish, but he jerked his head up to look at her, his brows drawn together. “These are ideas from your world?”

“I couldn’t remember all of them. But yes.” Yuu shrugged sheepishly, swinging her feet in the air. “You can feel free to rip the pages out if you find something you—”

Before she could finish, he’d carefully detached the pages from the spine of her notebook, dropping it into her lap and running his eyes greedily over the second page again. “…For reference, which ideas do you think are the best?”

“Cotton candy and separate bags of popcorn?” Yuu remembered the Quidditch matches at the Hogwarts pitch. “Also, colour-changing badges that reflect house pride and other such apparel. You can sell scarves and hats and sweaters for a lot. Five thousand Madols apiece? The popcorn should be separated by House—er, dorm—as well just to ramp up sales. I don’t know if you have a cotton candy machine—”

“Slow down,” Azul had whipped out his Pen and was scribbling on the margins, looking comically like Jade had earlier when writing about the mushroom recipe. “Don’t worry about the cotton candy machine or the popcorn machine. Keep going.”

By the time Yuu had exhausted her list of prospective ideas, her throat was dry; Azul waved his Pen and a chilled water bottle zoomed out from behind his desk to land in front of her. There was that dangerous light in his eyes that he got whenever he spoke of a deal or whatever he did in his ‘general needs department’ side business.

“What a fruitful day this has been,” Azul said, folding her sheets of paper and tucking them in his suit pocket. “Yuu-san, your memory and analysis abilities are once again pleasantly surprising. If you had magic and fins, the mirror would have placed you into Octavinelle without a doubt.”

“I’d be eaten alive,” Yuu disagreed, “and I happen to like Ramshackle.”

“How unfortunate.” He didn’t seem to care. “The popcorn and badge idea will most certainly be put to good use. Now, I meant to do this later with the designer, but it couldn’t hurt to have a second opinion. Yuu-san, will you fetch that stack of papers and bring it here? I am trying to figure out which booth designs should be employed for the side street leading to the coliseum to attract more customers…”

Yuu gulped down some of the cold water before rising to do his bidding. “Aren’t you tired, senpai?”

Azul was muttering to himself again; at her words he glanced up at the clock sharply and turned to her with an almost remorseful edge colouring his tone. “—I’ve kept you for longer than expected. Do you need to take your break? Have you—”

“Not me,” Yuu collected the stack of documents and laid them on the seawater table before peering up into his face concernedly. “You, Ashengrotto-senpai. You’ve been sitting here since my shift started. That was more than six hours ago.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Azul dismissed her with a frown. “I have things to do. If you want, you are free to take your break.”

“…I’m not tired,” Yuu sighed and climbed back onto the couch beside him. “Okay, fine. Where did you want to start with these designs?”

—

Despite her exhaustion, Yuu walked into the castle Sunday morning in an unshakable mood. In her school bag were well-packed ingredients purchased from Mister S’s Mystery Shop as well as her wallet full of tips she’d earned from work—and her new bank statement and card. All of that labour, all of the harassment from Floyd, all of the brain-consuming thinking she’d done with Azul was _worth it._

Ignoring all the issues that an identity traced to a bank in this world could bring, Yuu had something for her work. She held the fruits of her labour. It was exhilarating and kept at bay her nightmares for the night.

Grim, who had leapt for joy when she brought him back three cans of tuna last night, had worked himself into a frenzy after eating them, made a nuisance of himself all night long (to the amusement of the Ghosts), and was consequently still asleep in her bed when she left this morning. She had snapped almost twenty shots of him dancing with her Ghost Camera, trying not to laugh—Yuu really needed to get the film developed somehow.

In any case, she didn’t plan on leaving him for too long; if Ramshackle had a working kitchen, she would have done her cooking right in the dorm, but as it was, Yuu made her way through the empty corridors with a spring in her step and a pop tune running in her head.

The first use for her money she’d thought of was a scent—a bottle of perfume to hide her smell. Then Yuu remembered a conversation she’d had with Leona a couple of weeks ago about the little bottle he’d slipped into her pocket. He’d told her offhandedly that her smell wasn’t very strong anymore and that she could use that small spray perfume to hide it completely.

“In fact, don’t buy any scented sprays,” he’d wrinkled his nose bad-temperedly, “they smell way too strong. Just use that bottle I handed you on your pulse points until you run out and give me a shout when you do.”

Leona, after all he said, really was kind to women.

Next was Grim’s tuna cans—her priority was always her partner. After that, she was dead set on making something for Ace and Deuce and Trey and Cater and Riddle. Those five had whittled out a permanent hollow in her chest and Trey was injured right now; with the way they had been running around looking for the criminal, they could use some food that _weren’t_ sweets. Yuu had received a report from Grim last night that they’d let the culprit run away by accident—“He’s way too good at jumping walls!” the Monster had said, the fire burning in his ears flaring bright with his bad temper—so this might make them feel better.

Yuu had settled on Japanese food, since it was what she was most used to making at home; food ingredients at Sam’s were appropriately priced for poor students like her and he’d even thrown in an extra pack of mints with a wink and a comment that the Headmaster had told him everything.

“It is an honour to have you visit my shop, Lady,” he’d swept her a smart bow as she collected her bags. “In the future, should you have anything at all you need help with, please don’t hesitate to rely on Sam.”

If she wasn’t used to the clumsy respect Leona afforded her, she was _far_ more unused to the escort Sam provided. The entire road from his shop to the castle Yuu had frantically tried to calm her embarrassment and confusion. This fricking Dixney-inspired world! She cursed it, pressing a cool hand to her flaming cheeks. Yuu resolved to seriously look for a way to change herself into a boy via potion.

Still, none of those events could affect her bright mood, because she was no longer penniless—no longer a dependent at the bottom of the chain, no longer confined to reliance on professors or the headmaster or the volatile ‘kindness’ of someone at NRC. Yuu bounced into the kitchen, unloaded her wares, and pulled out a rice cooker.

Yuu was so happy that she found herself humming as she washed the rice in a metal bowl beside the sink. She had not exercised her voice since Hogwarts and even then, needless humming attracted needless attention, so just like her desire for the piano, Yuu was used to suppressing her need to sing.

Any instrument would have probably satiated her, and yet the only instrument she possessed was her voice. Even then, it was not until she was shipped off to Hogwarts that Yuu discovered the existence of the choir, which was both interesting and baffling. She could not believe that a magic development school would invest anything in mundane music—

“ _It couldn’t hurt, right?_ ” James Potter had prodded her with the smile that resembled his father’s so much.

So Yuu, for the first time in her life, found herself participating in a hobby she liked.

That had all fallen out of the window once she’d come to Twisted Wonderland—with the stress of hopping worlds, messing with time-space, facing great beasts in the mine and ghosts and a rickety shack of a dorm that threatened collapse, encountering so many beautiful and deadly people who hid in the shadows—Yuu had completely forgotten about the music she loved so much.

Her voice had not forgotten her. As the rice steamed and she chopped onions finely into a bowl, Yuu idly hummed a few verses from the muggle pop songs she’d heard on the radio. She felt the satisfying resistance in her throat as Yuu warmed up her voice by habit, remembered her professor barking at her to hum from her gut, not her throat, remembered Flitwick’s approving nod…

Clapping broke her out of her practiced movements. Yuu looked up in surprise, her humming cutting off—Kalim al-Asim was leaning against the doorway, scarlet eyes creased so that the dot of kohl at the corners of his eyes crinkled in warmth.

“It’s Yuu!” he said cheerfully.

Yuu coughed a couple times, feeling her earlier embarrassment come rushing back. “Um, hi, senpai. You heard nothing.”

Kalim was wearing the athletic uniform today, though he had given up on the jacket and knotted it around his waist over the dark track pants. The headband tied around his white hair in place of his usual gold turban was rouge to match his T-shirt, but he had rolled the sleeves up messily all the way onto his shoulders, nearly obscuring the white Scarabia crest printed over his heart. An elegantly designed white tattoo stood out beautifully against each bronze arm and one more on his left shoulder.

If she had tried the same trick with her recently received athletic uniform, Yuu was sure her sleeves would have fallen right back down. But to her surprise, Kalim’s biceps were a lot more toned with muscle than she’d expected and supported the sleeves of the shirt that had all but turned into a tank top.

The Scarabia Dorm Head approached her as she turned down the fire. “Smells _real_ good. What’cha cooking?”

“I’m making omelette rice,” Yuu explained, “it’s a recipe from home. I figured that my friends would want some.”

“For your friends?” Kalim’s smile widened to show his white teeth. He ducked around so he could ruffle her hair. “You’re a pretty generous kid, aren’t’cha! And your voice is so good, too!”

“Can we just forget about that please,” Yuu begged him, pouring the rest of her diced vegetables in.

“Why?” Kalim blinked in confusion as a burst of steam clouded the area in front of them. His clear voice carried easily over the noise. “You’re so good! Though you sound like a girl.”

Yuu winced again. She’d have to be more careful about humming or singing.

Kalim didn’t notice. “Usually your voice is normal, but when you were humming earlier, it went unbelievably high! And it wasn’t a falsetto!”

 _That’s because I’m a soprano_ , Yuu thought, _and I speak in the lowest part of my register._

She cleared her throat. “Anyway! Topic over!”

“Aw, come on! I was going to invite you to join the light music club!” Kalim protested.

Yuu groaned, but she obligingly listened as Kalim waved his hands around and told her about how he, Cater, and Lilia Vanrouge had performed in a concert last year when he was still a first year.

Lilia Vanrouge in a music club? Yuu shuddered as she remembered those magenta eyes boring into her face. There was no way she was going to join that club when she was still so afraid of the third year.

It was still fun talking to Kalim, and she was content to continue to listen as he chattered about how tough today’s Magift practice had been and how he was hoping they’d get to fight a good opponent the day of the match. Yuu asked him some questions about the members, but it seemed that apart from Jamil, no one on the team had been injured yet.

“I’d be careful,” she cautioned as she added the rice to stir-fry. “I know your vice Dorm Head Jamil-senpai probably tells you enough for the both of us, but watch out for yourself, okay?”

Kalim blinked his bright red eyes at her in surprise.

Yuu looked up at his silence and gave him a questioning stare. “What’s wrong?”

Kalim smiled at her, a much softer one than his usual friendly grin. “It’s been a while since someone’s had my best interests at heart.”

Yuu gaped. “Huh!?”

“Oh, nothing!” He reached forwards to ruffle her hair. “I like you, Yuu!”

“Thank you…?” Yuu smiled tentatively back. “I like you too?”

Yuu wondered if there was a single human on this planet who could hate someone like Kalim. At least for her, it was impossible.

Shortly after she started arranging the stir-fried rice within the omelettes, denying Kalim’s whining about her singing another song for him, Jamil showed up in the doorway to the kitchens with a long, exhausted sigh. “Kalim,” he gritted out, catching his breath, “I said _don’t_ run off after practice without telling me, didn’t I?”

Kalim, who was pouting with his face supported by both hands, looked up from the table and blinked at Jamil. “…Whoops!”

“ _Ka. Lim._ ”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Kalim put both hands up sheepishly. “I heard a really beautiful voice in the kitchen and I just…”

“Argh!” Yuu pointed the spatula at him. “We’ve been through this!”

“I’m not gonna give up until I can hear it again,” he sang, completely unrepentant as he grinned at her.

“You again, Directing Student?” Jamil arched a brow at her. “You sure have it tough too, stuck in the kitchens so much.”

“I volunteered this time,” Yuu said cheerfully. “I was going to offer some to Kalim-senpai here, but since you’re his, uh, taste-tester? Or whatever? I figured I should wait until you showed up. How about it?”

Jamil was dressed in his school uniform regardless of it being a Sunday. He made his way gracefully over to her and looked interestedly down at the pan as she started on a second omelette after flipping the first one upside down onto a plate. “I’ve never seen food like this. It seems to resemble something made in the far east…”

“It’s from the place I was born,” Yuu explained. “I got all of the ingredients from Mister S just a little while ago, so they should be pretty fresh, but I always make too much. It’s called omelette rice and tastes good with ketchup. Want to try?”

Yuu’s omurice was met with a nod of approval from Jamil and high praise from Kalim, who thought it was hilarious that she could draw words and shapes with the ketchup. He took almost twenty pictures with his phone until Yuu asked him if he were getting influenced by Cater-senpai a little too much.

“It’s been so long since someone personalized a meal just for me!” Kalim said excitedly.

“I personalize your meals,” Jamil said dully, chewing on his omurice, “every meal. Every day.”

“Of course I know that, but you’re Jamil,” Kalim said with a sunny smile. “You’re good at _everything_! And you didn’t write my name on my food in ketchup!”

Jamil rolled his eyes.

Yuu, whose stomach was rumbling, packed away each set of omurice with surreptitious Stasis Charms into the new set of glassware she’d bought and decided to eat hers together with the two of them. To her pleasant surprise, Jamil finished first and helped her with the dishes before Kalim pulled her from the kitchens and cafeteria, excitedly bragging to Jamil about how good her voice sounded.

“Stop,” Yuu pleaded, feeling the heat burn in her cheeks, “Senpai I’ll do anything please, stop.”

Kalim laughed. “Don’t be so embarrassed! So what if it sounded a little girly!”

“Sorry about him,” Jamil took pity on her. “He doesn’t really know what it’s like to hold back. I swear it’s not because he’s bullying you.”

“That makes it even worse,” she hissed, “the one hundred percent kindness beam…it burns!”

Jamil snorted as they crossed the hallway.

The vice Dorm Head had been changing the paperwork needed to transfer another player into the Magift team, since he was now unable to play, while Kalim and the rest of Scarabia’s team scrimmaged out in the fields. When Yuu asked if he was getting better, he’d given her a strange look and told her to worry about herself.

Kalim nodded emphatically. “You were all alone in the kitchens today. What if someone had tried to sneak up behind you and stab you?”

“Stab me!?” Yuu spluttered.

“Ignore him,” Jamil sighed. “But he’s got a point. You’re wearing this foolishly happy look and it’s the perfect target. Why are you so happy, anyway?”

“That’s right,” Kalim peered into her face. “You were even humming. What’s got you in a mood?”

“Oh,” Yuu said shyly, “I got my first paycheque. So these ingredients are the first thing I bought with my own money…guess I got too excited.”

Kalim straightened slowly. “…Jamil,” he strained out. “I had no idea it was so precious when I ate it.”

“Precious?” Yuu squinted. “It’s not precious, and I made it for my friends, which includes you, so don’t feel bad. The fact that you ate it and told me it was delicious made it all worth it.”

It had been her first meal made all by herself. The madeleines were a snack, but Yuu had never made anything for anyone before she came to Twisted Wonderland.

It was…nice.

Kalim clutched at his chest. “ _Jamil_ ,” he repeated, face scrunched up painfully. “Can’t we make him come to Scarabia? Please?”

“The person in question doesn’t want to,” Jamil said dryly. He was giving her a bemused look. “You’re kind of…pure, too. Aren’t you?”

Yuu gaped. “Me? No way.”

“If you say so.” Jamil shook his head as they approached a crowd of Savanaclaw students walking down the hall. “Anyway. Stop walking around with that foolish look on your face, you’ll be targeted. It’s just a paycheque.”

“Jamil,” protested Kalim.

“True,” Yuu agreed. “I just got excited because I was no longer dependent on this school and its headmaster. But you should be careful too.”

“Not as careful as you,” Jamil retorted; they approached the stairway together with the crush of students. “You don’t even have any magic. Think ahead and be smart about your movements. We’ve been trained to protect ourselves; you haven’t. got it?”

Kalim was nodding emphatically on her other side. Yuu grinned helplessly at them. “All right,” she said, “you win. But only if you promise not to push yourself too hard, Jamil-senpai.”

Jamil blinked at her in surprise and went still so she and Kalim took the first step down the staircase without him. “Me?” he asked. “ _Those_ are your terms?”

“’Cause you work yourself too hard.” Yuu thought about the circles under Azul’s eyes.

Jamil smiled slowly—Yuu didn’t know why, but all the hairs on her neck stood on end. “It’s my job,” he told her softly. “So I’ll work exactly as hard as I need to, and no less.”

“Yuu, you’re such a good kid,” Kalim wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. “I should show your example to my siblings and teach them that this is how you _whoa—!_ ”

He teetered forwards. Yuu gasped and dropped her bag; on her other side Jamil cursed—but she couldn’t let Kalim take a fall from this high up, not him who had smiled at her like the sun and taken a picture of the messy ketchup letters spelling out his name on the omurice she’d made.

Yuu threw her arms around his and yanked backwards. Kalim tumbled onto the first stair, supporting himself with his palms and a yelp; Yuu breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oi!” Jamil shouted.

Too late did she realise that by propelling him backwards onto the stairs, Yuu had pulled herself forwards into thin air.

As she fell, Trey’s warning passed through her head with unusual clarity. Jamil’s charcoal grey eyes met hers for one brief moment—Yuu felt a pang of that heavy feeling again. He’d been the second one who had warned her to be careful.

Yuu would take this fall a thousand times over again if she could choose, but all the same she was sorry. It was still her who had caused the stricken looks on the faces of Scarabia’s two leaders as she tumbled from the staircase into the air.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
>  **Edited |** November 9th for clarity on the scene right before Yuu meets Tsuno-tarou. Again on December 31st, 2020 for grammar, spelling, and minor details. 
> 
> —
> 
> **Definitions |**
> 
> _kingyo-chan (金魚ちゃん)_ | goldfish, with an affectionate suffix. What Floyd calls Riddle.
> 
>  _tsundere (ツンデレ)_ | slang? for someone who expresses their affection for another in a rough or brusque manner. Often found behaving very kindly while shouting ‘it’s not like I care about you!!!’ Ace and Deuce call Jack this.
> 
>  _khussa_ | the curved shoes that Kalim wears with his school uniform. Worn in Punjab Pakistan in many styles; also makes an appearance in Disney’s Aladdin. Distinctive by the curved tops and often decorated with bells and accessories. A kind of _jutti_ (Indian footwear).
> 
>  _Tsuno-tarou (ツノ太郎)_ | the name Yuu and Grim come up for Malleus Draconia. The name means ‘horn-Tarou’ where ‘Tarou’ is a common male given name in Japan. Basically, “horned guy”. It’s not a very…impressive-sounding nickname. Trivia: Yuu would have named him ‘Hornsby’ if Grim had not helped her. The reason why Yuu is so obviously female to Tsuno-tarou with this nightgown is…well…she doesn’t look very masculine. We don’t get to see what Yuu’s appearance is like from her perspective in the story mostly because she doesn’t take a lot of interest in it, but later on there will be more descriptions!
> 
>  _Afterglow Savannah (夕焼けの草原, yuuyake no sougen)_ | the country Ruggie and Leona come from. Honestly, I wanted to translate it the ‘Sunset Grasslands’ or ‘Sunset Plains’ before some comments alerted me that it had an official? translation already. ‘Yuuyake’ (which is translated to Afterglow) also has the meaning of the burning colour that a sunset leaves on the land; I quite like the word, but ‘afterglow’ doesn’t really capture all of what it means.
> 
> —
> 
> Days Since Yuu Has Been Injured: ~~seven?~~ zero
> 
> I am so surprised and impressed at the amount of attention this humble story has gotten in month and a half. You readers truly make my day! 💕 Thank you very much! I know I’m very inexperienced with much room to grow, but you motivate me to do my best.
> 
> The next update will be on November 12th. Apparently, this month is ‘National November Writing Month’ which encourages 50,000 words of writing. I think we can make that pretty easily, no? Let’s give it a shot! (This chapter has 20,100+ words)
> 
> Thank you for reading, subscribing, bookmarking, clicking ‘kudos’ (we’re over THREE HUNDRED!? 😱) and leaving such wonderful comments. Please let me know what you thought of this one below!
> 
> —


	10. Law of the Jungle.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuu gets in over her head. She tries to make the best out of a bad situation—but no one is making things easy, including herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
>  **Happy worldwide PS5 release!!** 🎉🎉🎉 (And XBOX Series X/S a couple of days ago 🎊.) Cutting it a little close with this chapter because I was so busy watching and playing video games this week 💦💦 Phew! I made it!
> 
> Also, Happy Hallowe’en Event Conclusion release! ✨✨ Time to complete my Scary Dress collection (Tsuno-tarou is last after Hallowe’en Azul finally showed up 🎉 Hooray!). Gosh this event is SO good…and the Groovy art!!! And the player character is…!! (wordless gesturing) 😇
> 
> Thank you for your wonderful response to the last chapter. Still hanging on to that cliff? 🤭 It’s getting really cold where I live (we’ve had snow for over a month and a veritable blizzard a couple of days ago)…so I hope everyone is staying warm and safe!
> 
> —
> 
> Please note that we will be entering more “interpretation” zones in this chapter. I mean, this story itself is totally divergent from the actual game and is being written for the proverbial lulz 🤣, but usually I try to stick with information given out officially. (For example, I’m not 100% sure whether Dorm Heads have their own washrooms.) However, the best thing about writing derivative stories is the liberty and creativity we are allowed (?) to stick into the world, so please suspend some (all) of your scepticism before enjoying!
> 
> —

—

Chey-nya had called her a lady, however jokingly—back in her world, Dixney postulated that all girls were princesses. But Yuu was the furthest thing from such an elegant existence. She wasn’t equipped with the skill to faint on demand.

It was highly inconvenient, though, when her left ankle burned like magma was eating its way into her skin. Yuu stuffed her arm into her mouth, uniform sleeve and all, and stifled an ungainly cry of pain.

Through the roaring in her ears, she managed a shuddering breath of relief—it was a miracle that Yuu had fallen sideways, angled foot-first, saving her head from making contact with the stone floor ahead of the rest of her body. The narrow direction change mid-air had saved her a concussion, or worse. An ankle was much less troublesome to heal than her skull…no matter how much _everything hurt_.

Yuu pushed herself, gasping, into a sitting position, scanning her surroundings through vision blurred with a burst of forming tears. The hall was empty except for Jamil and Kalim now—which hung on the edge of her attention like a clue—but before she could do anything more than grit her teeth to stifle a cry of pain, Kalim was beside her, scarlet eyes wide in concern.

She hadn’t even heard him move.

“Yuu,” his bright voice changed drastically when the cheer was gone from it. Crouched beside her, he hovered close to her but didn’t reach out. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

Yuu mustered a shaky grin for him, dashing away the mist from her eyes. “It’s not so bad,” she managed. “Way better than _you_ falling. It doesn’t even hurt that much.”

“Jamil,” Kalim didn’t look away from her. Yuu thought hazily that without that ever-present smile, Scarabia’s Dorm Head looked almost frightening.

“Most likely it’s the left ankle,” Jamil responded right away, his tone cool and clinical. None of that tension in his voice when he’d shouted at her earlier remained. “Looks like it was twisted too far. Unlikely it’s a dislocation, maybe a fracture, maybe a really bad sprain. Otherwise there might be some light bruising around his legs and bottom, but he’s not in danger.”

“Thanks. Can you check the area?” Kalim slid one hand under her thighs and lifted her into his lower arm easily. Yuu yelped in surprise as he hefted her schoolbag over his shoulder and clung reflexively to his shoulders. “Come find us in the infirmary when you’re done, okay?”

“Understood.” Jamil disappeared.

“He’s fast,” Yuu gaped at the spot he’d been standing.

Kalim finally mustered a smile, but there was still that solemn seriousness heavy behind his eyes—a look she didn’t have the mental capacity to think about right now, barely audible at the edge of his voice. “Does it hurt when I move?”

It did.

“Not really,” Yuu said, fighting for a calm voice. She should just be glad this wasn’t another princess carry—after Crowley’s admittedly comfortable version, she was eager never to experience it again in her lifetime. Kalim still looked unappeased, so she mustered a bigger smile to reassure him.

He breathed out long and slow and patted her hair once. “Okay.”

She couldn’t tell whether he believed her; either way, Scarabia’s Dorm Head carried her back across the hallway to the infirmary without another word. The pressure around him prevented her from opening her mouth. Yuu pretended she was a statue.

The infirmary was empty—although judging by the number of accidents that had occurred recently, its quiet was probably temporary. Kalim set her on the bed furthest away from any windows, lit the candelabras with a wave of his Pen, and put both hands solemnly on her shoulders.

“Yuu,” he said very gently, scarlet eyes boring into hers. “Please, don’t do that ever again.”

Her eyes widened at the command in his voice, in his gaze. “Kalim-senpai.”

“I could have saved myself,” Kalim told her slowly. “But you don’t have magic. Don’t throw your life away for mine.”

A strange heaviness accompanied his words; the last sentence had strained with something close to the anger she’d learnt so recently. Either way she could tell that this seriousness was what hid behind the cheer of Kalim al-Asim. His fingers trembled against her shoulders.

Not that Kalim’s brightness was false, but Yuu was beginning to see that there was much more to him than his usual smile. It seemed that Scarabia’s Dorm Head saw and understood much more than he usually seemed.

If Yuu was a good person—if she were a Dixney Princess, she would have agreed. Would have demonstrated her heart of gold, never willing to hurt the feelings of another soul. Would have smiled and told Kalim she’d listen to him.

But she wasn’t a good person.

Yuu looked him back in the eye evenly. “Sorry, senpai,” she said just as seriously, “but I’ll probably do it again if I have to. And you can’t stop me.”

—

**CHAPTER TEN | Law of the Jungle.**

—

Yuu awoke with a start, fingers reaching into her sleeve for her wand.

It was still bright outside—evidently not much time had passed since she’d fallen into a fitful sleep. Her ankle throbbed with renewed pain when she shifted…and brought back memories tumbling into her head.

Just after their tense conversation, Jamil had arrived silently at the infirmary even as Kalim widened his scarlet eyes and gritted his teeth to respond to her; the vice head had whispered something into his ear and they’d exchanged some low murmurs before both turned back to her with carefully controlled expressions.

Yuu had nearly tumbled off the bed in shock when Jamil met her gaze and lowered his head almost ninety degrees with both arms folded formally in front of him. Even in Japan, it was usually only when some poor salaryman made a huge mistake that one bowed that deeply—but trying to get him to lift his head was met with silence and when she looked at Kalim, flabbergasted, he had regained his usual cheery smile.

“He’s just thanking you,” Kalim had said like it was no big deal. “You did, after all, prevent me from suffering an injury.”

“Jamil-senpai _please_ get up,” Yuu got out very quickly, “Kalim-senpai wouldn’t have been hurt at all, he’s way better with sports than me and in the first place, you don’t need to bow for him—”

“—It was the Unique Magic.”

“—so I was literally just in the way—what?” Yuu blinked.

Massaging his brow, Jamil rose back up and sat on her bedside beside Kalim, who was making himself comfortably cross-legged. “The one good thing to come out of this was that I’m sure Unique Magic was being used.”

“On Kalim-senpai?”

“That’s right. Or maybe not him, exactly. I couldn’t detect magic _on_ him, so to speak—and I would know.” Jamil’s sure, calm voice held a note of pride. “I’m suspecting that crowd of Savanaclaw students that were descending the stairs in front of us. There was no reason for them to be in school grounds today.”

“Whoa,” Yuu gaped at him, “You really are smart, Jamil-senpai. I was wondering why the empty hallway felt so strange…”

Maybe the Unique Magic wasn’t being targeted at Kalim specifically, but the surroundings? And why were there so many students? Perhaps it was a group spell, or the caster needed to be hidden among the crowd, but then that would mean the entire group was in on the crime…

Was Savanaclaw behind this string of incidents?

“But do Savanaclaw and Scarabia have any points of contact?” she muttered. “Why would both Jamil-senpai and Kalim-senpai be targeted one after another…? I haven’t seen any other Dorm Head _and_ vice Dorm Head get injured, just one or the other…”

When she looked back up to discuss her thoughts, both Jamil and Kalim were staring at her with that look. It was the same look she’d received from Octavinelle’s three—the same shocked stare Ruggie had fixed her with. Briefly, the image of a space cat flashed through her mind, but Yuu dismissed it along with the pain in her leg. Instead, she gave them a bemused smile. “What?”

“How did you _live_ this long in this place?” Jamil asked her abruptly, his voice gaining its slightly shrill edge again. “You’re like a new-born gazelle!”

“Yeah. I could lift you with one arm no problem,” Kalim said thoughtfully.

“That’s not what I mean!” The vice head gritted out. “He doesn’t—!”

“Are you sure you’re sixteen?”

Yuu glanced between them bemusedly. “Fifteen.”

“That’s not what I meant either,” Jamil appeared to give up. He rolled his eyes.

“You’re just a kid!” Kalim gasped, skipping over his friend’s dry words. His stare firmed with resolve. “Listen, Yuu. Don’t worry. I’ll take responsibility. You just rest here, okay?”

“Technically _I’m_ the one who will take responsibility,” Jamil put in unhelpfully. He looked back at her and Yuu saw the corner of his mouth curve upwards in a much more malicious smile than she’d ever seen. “…Lie down for a while, Directing Student. I’ll elevate your foot with a pillow and bandage it, but try to get some sleep. You look like hell.”

Yuu blinked at the expletive and wondered if Jamil was hiding these biting words behind his flat eyes all the time. It felt as if she’d seen a real expression on his face for the first time since she’d met him.

“Jamil,” Kalim sighed fondly, not looking very surprised.

“We’ll ask around the area to see if there are any suspicious figures sighted recently.” His friend ignored him. “Don’t worry. Everything will go _wonderfully_.”

Alarms blared loudly in Yuu’s head even as Jamil’s smile widened an inch—she could not let this person do what he wanted, they were telling her, unless she wanted a corpse to really turn up inside of the school. She struggled upright. “Senpai, don’t worry! I’ve got a lead! As soon as I can walk, I’m going to—”

“Hmm,” Kalim smiled cheerfully at her. “Guess we’ll have to tie you to the bed then!”

“— _Huh_!?”

“That’s probably the best choice for you right now,” The bright warmness behind his smile was guileless as he nodded emphatically. “If you’re good, we won’t have to keep you here by force. But Jamil is really good with knots. How about it, Yuu?”

She turned to Jamil, speechless.

Jamil shook his head. “…It was the end of your luck that of all people you had to become good friends with, it was Kalim,” he told her pityingly.

“What are you—what do—”

“Was there rope around here?” the Dorm Head asked Jamil casually. “We can use the other sheets if we have to.”

“I’ll be good!” Yuu rushed out, giving up. “I’ll stay! You don’t have to tie me up!”

“Really? All right!” Kalim reached forward to muss her hair. “We’ll come see you later then!”

—

… _Right_. Yuu winced in recollection as she stared at the ceiling of the empty infirmary.

Before this episode, she had wondered several times in their conversations why someone as one hundred percent pure as Kalim was in a school like this.

She’d been wrong. He wasn’t one hundred percent pure—he was one _thousand_ percent pure. Going against someone who was so convinced that they were doing something ‘for her’ might have been even scarier than rebelling against a bad guy…

The sun, after all, incinerated everything that neared it.

Yuu felt sorry for Jamil, who had looked like he was completely used to his friend’s attitude as he elevated her foot, wrapped it expertly with balm from one of the cabinets, and tucked her in. It seemed that bruises were easily taken care of by what looked like a topical application of a similar infusion of magical herbs, but even Yuu didn’t have the mental bandwidth to wonder at the ingredients right now.

Before Jamil had left, he’d told her that Kalim liked her more than he expected, and that she should be careful about using her unconscious skills everywhere. Yuu asked him what he meant, but she’d received no answer.

Jamil Viper sure was an enigma.

Scarabia seemed to have quite a bit of mystery to it too…once this stupid foot was better, she should go take Kalim’s offer up to visit. Kalim himself had a sort of gravitational force around him that she didn’t quite understand yet.

Yuu looked around sleepily. The curtains were drawn around her bed, her schoolbag set beside her. Nothing seemed out of order.

—So why had she woken up so suddenly?

A loud creak from behind her preceded the _thunk-thunk_ of two feet hitting the ground. “Phew,” a familiar voice muttered. “The windows here are hard as hell to open from the outside.”

Before she could do more than push herself up on her arms in confusion, the curtains drawn around her bed were pulled back with a hiss of metal. Yuu came face to face with a harried-looking Ruggie, whose ears were flattened against his head.

“Senpai?!” she greeted him, noting the lack of surprise in his grey eyes as he cast a glance over her. “What are you doing…”

“Later,” Ruggie pressed his finger to her mouth with his signature mischievous smile. “Keep quiet, Yuu-kun.”

Yuu obediently stopped talking. Was he hiding from someone? How on earth had he gotten in here? She hadn’t realized those small windows were openable…

Ruggie efficiently stripped the blankets from over her, exposing Yuu’s feet and the shoes shed beside them. Her left ankle had swelled to the size of a tennis ball and was a rather ugly purple where the bandages failed to cover; her right foot still wore one of the too-expensive socks Crewel had supplied her with.

The hyena Therianthrope whistled. “Your feet are tiny, kid.”

Yuu squinted at him, asking with her eyes what on earth was going on.

Ruggie motioned to her bag. Yuu pulled it into her lap, wondering what he wanted from—

Then she was in his arms and up in the air. Yuu sucked in a gasp, clutching her bag to her chest reflexively.

“Don’t open your mouth, you’ll bite your tongue off,” Ruggie warned. Even with the full weight of a human in his arms, he didn’t sound the least bit fazed.

Yuu, who was used to obeying orders from surly professors (that now included Trein and Crewel), clamped her mouth shut, but she gave him a bugged-eyed look that sought answers.

Ruggie showed her his sharp canines. “I can’t tell if you’ve got excellent luck or abysmal luck, kid, but we’re off.”

And they were out the window.

Once again, Yuu wished for the kind of temperament that would allow her to faint in times like these. As it was, she narrowly suppressed a high-pitched stream as the two of them free-fell from the second-floor window, desperately clutching her book bag to her chest. The sky rushed past her in a giddy mess of colour; for one wild moment, Yuu wondered if she was going to die just like this.

Ruggie landed on the ground unbelievably lightly. Yuu’s face was pressed into his shoulder in fear, so she only heard the solid thump of their landing and the completely even heartbeat that pulsed against his neck. While hers raced like the stables’ most unruly horse, his paced uniformly, calmingly slow.

After a moment she managed to uncover her face, glaring up at Ruggie balefully. “Some _warning_ would be appreciated in the future.”

“ _Shi shi shi_. You should’ve seen your face when I picked you up.” He took off down the stairs and across the grounds at a jog. Noontime light from the sun lit his dirty blond hair and spun it into brilliant strands of gold.

Yuu muttered something uncomplimentary about Therianthropes and their physical abilities, but settled down without a struggle.

Ruggie kept his large brown ears pointed upwards warily as he glanced around. “Yuu-kun, you’re kind of unbelievably small and light. What, are your bones hollow or something?”

“I’m not that small or light,” Yuu wrinkled her nose, “why does everyone keep saying that?”

“Being unaware should be a sin,” Ruggie muttered. His ear flicked once before his large grey eyes peered into her face. This close, she could see the flecks of blue in the irises and the delicate sweep of his lashes, his pale brow.

Was this pretty guy really male? She wondered absently before realizing they were making a roundabout towards the building where the Mirrors were kept. Yuu looked over his shoulder again. “So, where are we going?”

“You’re not going to fight back?” Ruggie circumvented her question, making the trip up the hill with a few bounds. “I am sort of carrying you off.”

“You’re really good at jumping,” she commented, ignoring him. “I would have broken something for real if I tried jumping out of the second-floor window so easily.”

“Not going to complain about how I put your life in danger?”

“The only thing I want to complain about is this undignified carry you’ve got me in,” Yuu muttered.

“Sorry, you’ll have to bear with it,” Ruggie told her cheerfully, his eyes dancing. “A bridal carry’s the best way to keep your ankle from hurting so much.”

“Liar!” she cried. “You’re enjoying this torture!”

Ruggie’s laugh echoed down the paved street that led towards the building containing the Hall of Mirrors.

Yuu remembered how relieved she’d felt when Kalim chose a chair-carry for her and regretted everything. She put her head in her hands, ignoring the way her ankle throbbed with every step, and mumbled, “This is so undignified.”

“You really are something else,” Ruggie said in amusement. “Leona-san was right when he said you didn’t care about yourself.”

“I mean, I want to know why you suddenly kidnapped me,” Yuu said dryly, making herself more comfortable. “Also, how we managed to fit through those tiny windows. But I figured that you’d tell me eventually, and plus—I have a hypothesis already. So I’m just going to wait.”

“Can’t recommend that method for your future,” he commented, “some predator could rip you to pieces if you don’t stall for time.”

“Are you going to?”

Ruggie blinked. “What?”

Yuu was the one who peered up into his face this time; she searched his crooked grin, the curls of hair over his forehead, his thin brows, and those huge eyes. “Are you going to tear me to pieces, Mister Predator?”

She was granted a flicker of surprise before his confident grin hid it from view. “I guess we’ll have to see,” Ruggie flashed her his canines again. “If you keep wandering around with that dumb look on your face, a hyena’s not going to hold back. We’re scavenger hunters, you know.”

Predictably, he’d been heading towards the Hall of Mirrors and Savanaclaw’s portal; Yuu curled around her book bag bracingly and pressed her face back into his oversized blazer before they passed through in a burst of light. The entrance to Savanaclaw was bright with the sun that beat down upon them, though even it could not penetrate October’s growing chill. Yuu was glad that no one was around the entranceway as Ruggie hopped over the skeletons to approach the twin curtains marking the door.

“Right,” she remembered, “Senpai, I have your extra uniform blazer in my bag. Don’t worry, I washed it, but thanks for lending it to me.”

“It was all Leona-san’s orders,” Ruggie flicked an ear dismissively. “Like I’d lend something to you for free. But if you _insist_ , why don’t you bake me some more of those madeleines from last time.”

“I knew you’d like them,” she perked up.

“You really are a weirdo,” he mumbled.

Unfortunately for her dignity, Savanaclaw’s lounge was crowded with the lively energy of Sunday at noon. With the senses of the Therianthropes that surpassed those of her fellow humans’, heads turned towards the entrance even before Ruggie entered. Which meant that they all saw her being carried in like a little child in his arms.

Unlike last time, when Leona was preceding her, she didn’t have the shield of a scary third year to protect her. A wave of noise rippled through the hall before mean-spirited laughter flooded the lounge. Several of the Therianthropes jeered at her as she passed by. Ruggie made no move to encourage or discourage them—in fact, he didn’t seem to notice as he bounded past them entirely with light steps. She followed his example and let the noise pass through her ears unchecked.

Yuu caught sight of an exceptionally tall, silver-haired furry-eared student frowning confusedly at her before they crossed the cavern and exited. He looked strangely familiar, but her attention was caught by the new area so that she forgot all about him.

“Whoa,” she breathed, twisting around in Ruggie’s grip to gape at the miles of glass wall rising up to form Savanaclaw’s hallway window, “this place is…!”

“Pretty nice, ain’t it?” Ruggie approached the foot of the walkway and looked up at the super-sized window with her.

They stood in a wide-open space surrounded by curtained doorways, but a rope bridge rose from ground level and spiralled up and up into oblivion, lining the walls that each had rooms hollowed out into them like caverns. Savanaclaw’s infinite walkway resembled a hollowed tower with rope bridges slung across air over their heads. Yuu remembered reading a book that had detailed the residence of fictional tree-dwellers a similar way, but where the novel’s version was covered in leaves, Savanaclaw was all sand and fabric, decorated with fireball lamps that made no noise.

“Nice?” Yuu repeated dumbly. “This place is amazing. _Amazing!_ ”

“ _Shi shi shi_. You look like a squirrel,” Ruggie teased her.

“Don’t you think this place is _cool_ though?” Yuu gushed with sparkling eyes.

“Yeah, it sure is,” he nodded emphatically. “Man, when I came here for the first time last year, I was frozen in the doorway for ages. As expected of a famous school like Night Raven College.”

Yuu patted his shoulders, beaming at him. “You’re the first person,” she emphasised. “The first person who hasn’t called me a fool for appreciating this place. Everyone else is loaded so I guess I can’t blame them, but I’m not used to this stuff.”

Ruggie, to her surprise, nodded vehemently. “Most of the kids who come here are already rich as hell, but they really don’t know what makes the world go round. I’ll never forget when Leona-san saw a picture of my house and called it a _doghouse_. Can you frickin’ believe it? A doghouse!”

She made a disgusted face. “I hear horror stories all the time from you about his spending habits, but…”

“You can sympathise with me, right!?” When real excitement brightened his eyes, Ruggie looked younger than his seventeen years, ears pricking up adorably with his expression. “I swear, everyone’s sense of wealth is completely broken around here. I mean, you have to get used to it to survive, but try thinking from the perspective of us who doesn’t care as long as they have a roof over their heads.”

“Exactly,” Yuu nodded back vehemently. “Like people were angry about me living in Ramshackle, but it’s not that bad. It has a bed and a shower and that’s enough.”

“You know, I think I misunderstood you when we first met,” Ruggie gave her an appraising smile. “I thought you were just a boring fool. I mean you are a li’l dummy who’s probably going to get eaten alive, but at least you’ve got an idea of how the world turns.”

“I told you,” Yuu grinned cheekily up at him, “I want to be more like you, senpai. You’re the epitome of true intelligence and opportunism.”

“If that’s praise, I’ll take it,” Ruggie said with that same bemused look she was getting used to seeing.

They made the way up dozens of rope ladders and wooden walkways, which Ruggie treaded lighter than a cat. His hold on her was secure and he never got short of breath as he moved—once again, she marvelled at the physical excellence of Therianthropes. In the first place, Yuu would never have been able to lift another human in a princess carry, let alone haul them up dozens of flights of stairs without breaking a sweat. Ruggie smelled cleanly of bar soap and detergent and something warm, but he hadn’t even started breathing hard, let alone sweating.

Yuu was so busy craning her neck around Ruggie’s shoulder to examine the walkways as they climbed up that she didn’t even notice they had hit the apex until he’d paused in front of the most richly decorated curtain she’d ever seen. “Leona-san,” he called through the woven red, green, yellow and orange-dyed fabric. “Leona-san, are you awake? I brought the hostage.”

“Hostage,” Yuu repeated mildly.

Ruggie’s grin was much less friendly this time as he looked down at her. His eyes were cold. “You’re still a weak, weak little creature,” he murmured almost gently at her. “Where I come from, you wouldn’t survive six hours. In Savana, we use whatever we can around here. Got it?”

Yuu watched the coldness in his eyes and thought that he might be the most perfect person she’d met in this world.

A beat of silence before Leona’s yawn filtered through the doorway. “Bring the herbivore in.”

—

The bedroom Leona was lounging in was even larger than Ramshackle’s biggest bedroom (the only one she’d patched up well enough not to leak). Like Savanaclaw’s lounge, one of the walls was cut open to the elements, though heavy blinds hung halfway down the stone pillars to shade the room from the wind. Beyond the pillars was an open balcony protected by a few wooden poles strung together into a fence with white rope. It looked easily breakable.

Unlike the rest of the dorm, this room was fully carpeted in stripes, with tribal patterned rugs lying haphazardly atop the floor and hung from the stone walls, over the king-sized bed, and laid flat under the dresser and desk. The bed itself was raised on a small dais of shining mahogany with clothes strewn haphazardly across it. Leona stretched out on his side atop the many pillows, facing a chess set he was examining.

Yuu whistled as she took in the view. “This place is _huge_. Do people all have single bedrooms here or something? Or is it because Leona-senpai’s rich?”

Leona flicked his emerald eyes up at her briefly, looked down, and then jerked his head back up to examine them more closely. “…Oi, Ruggie. You carried the herbivore into the dorm like _that_?”

“ _Shi shi_.” Ruggie showed him his teeth. “Pretty emasculating, no?”

Leona made a very strange expression between amusement, annoyance and confusion. Eventually he just settled on, “Come over here, the both of you.”

Ruggie, surprisingly, was kind enough to dump her on the edge of Leona’s bouncy mattress before he crossed over to the desk, pulled a chair out, and straddled it backwards, making himself comfortable. The hyena Therianthrope looked utterly in his element, as if he owned the room himself.

Yuu set her school bag down with a long sigh before Leona caught her around the waist with his tail and dragged her up so he could examine her foot. “Ruggie told me you took a tumble off the stairs,” he drawled, looking entertained as she obediently stuck out her swollen ankle. “What have I told you about sticking your nose into other peoples’ business? Haven’t you learned from the incident with the Queen?”

“Did you just call Rosehearts-senpai a queen?” Yuu tried to hide a grin.

“Wait, you were involved in _that_?” Ruggie rocked the high-backed wooden chair forwards dangerously far, peering over at her in interest. “I don’t know what happened, but Heartslabyul’s Dorm Head sure has changed since the whole explosion.”

“Explosion?”

He mirrored her confused stare. “Wasn’t it an explosion? At least that’s what Crowley and the other profs are saying.”

“How the hell did you get it this twisted?” Leona prodded the back of her foot with a finger, distracting her with a jolt of pain.

Yuu whimpered. “That fricking _hurts_ ,” she managed. Jamil hadn’t ruled out the possibility of a fracture, but he had also told her there had probably been no damage done to the bone. Still, even shifting it sent sharp lances of pain rocketing up to her nervous system.

“What a weak little animal,” Ruggie stared at her foot, looking rather hungry.

“We’re not going to chew on the herbivore,” Leona glanced at him briefly, tossing her a knight, “not until we’re done using him.”

When she blinked, the hyena’s feral grin was gone, replaced by a respectful deference. “You got it, Leona-san. So how much are we gonna tell Yuu-kun?”

After a long sigh, Leona shoved the white pieces over to her before he sat up in his nest of pillows, looking nothing short of a magazine model, and scratched his hair, frowning. “It’s your fault the herbivore got injured instead of your target. I’m not gonna start hiding information from him now, it’s useless.”

“I’ll never understand why you’re so nice to this li’l dummy,” Ruggie muttered.

“His fault?” Yuu’s fingers automatically reached out to straighten up the chessboard as she made herself comfortable on the unbelievably soft mattress. She cocked her head to the side, glancing between the two Therianthropes. “…So you’re saying the culprit behind this series of ‘accidents’ is Ruggie-senpai?”

“At least you catch on quick.” Leona yawned, covering his mouth with a hand. “You had an idea, didn’t you? Otherwise you wouldn’t have let yourself been carried all the way over here without a fuss.”

“Is that why?” Ruggie peered over at her curiously.

“I was just betting on it,” she shrugged. “Jamil-senpai told me that he was suspicious of the crowd of Savanaclaw students who descended the staircase ahead of us, though he couldn’t find them anywhere after I hit the ground. So when Ruggie-senpai pried open that tiny window and told me to be quiet, I suspected.”

Ruggie whistled. “Sometimes when I start assuming you’re a brainless li’l animal, you surprise me, Yuu-kun.”

“So I was right?” Yuu prodded him curiously. “Was it all you? Or were you in cahoots with a bunch of other students?”

“You’ve almost got it,” Leona favoured her a fanged grin. “Remember, Ruggie won’t do anything stupid by himself.”

 _I’m just following Leona-san’s orders_ , Ruggie had said about the jacket. But did his orders extend to hurting other students?

“Which means _you’re_ the mastermind?” Yuu wrinkled her nose. “But Ruggie-senpai has the freedom to do what he wants. What d’you mean, he won’t do anything by himself? Are you threatening him or something?”

“Like I have to do something as low as that,” Leona snorted.

“I don’t know what it’s like in your flowery head, but Savana’s got only one rule, and that’s ‘survival of the fittest’,” Ruggie shook his head at her pityingly. “The best way to survive is to ally yourself with the strongest. That’s all.”

“Which is Leona-senpai,” Yuu tried. “You’re following him because your interests align and he’s strong.”

“Got it in one, herbivore.” Leona showed her a canine. “To put it simply, Ruggie here is doing the dirty work to thin the Magift competition before the day of. Of course, the rest of the dorm is in on it.”

“They’re all listening to you?” Yuu clarified. “Why? Are you _that_ strong, senpai?”

Ruggie tipped his chair back with a thump. “You still don’t—?” He swung his head in Leona’s direction searchingly.

The lion Therianthrope ignored him and gave her a smile. “What, herbivore. You don’t think I’m strong?”

“No clue.” Yuu responded honestly. “I’ve never seen you fight or play Magift. I mean, I suppose the way everyone around here respects you means that you’ve got to be strong. Are you the vice Dorm Head or something?”

Leona tilted his head back and laughed. “The vice Dorm Head position has been empty for years, kid.”

“Really?” Yuu remembered what Ace and Deuce had said about Savanaclaw’s Dorm Head last week and winced. “Maybe that scary Dorm Head made them quit.”

Ruggie choked and nearly tipped off his chair.

“Maybe,” Leona looked entertained. “…That’s not what we’re here to talk about. You don’t look very satisfied with what we’ve said so far.”

“I’m not,” she wrinkled her nose at them. “First of all, aren’t Therianthropes stronger than regular humans in like…every way? I don’t get why you would have to resort to, ah…sniping the competition prior to the day of. Doesn’t it come with a lot of risk of getting found out?”

“Ah, but you don’t know,” Leona leaned forward, a savage light entering his eyes. “What if I told you that there are a group of even nastier students around here?”

Yuu remembered the inhuman coldness in Azul’s eyes, Floyd’s fingers around her throat, Jade’s manic smile. But Ruggie nodded fervently and told her, “Those freaks over at Diasomnia are even less human than we are. For two years in a row, every match they’ve entered has resulted in an overwhelming loss for their opponents.”

“Diasomnia,” Yuu repeated slowly, remembering Lilia Vanrouge’s magenta eyes with a shudder. “They’re, um…not human either?”

“It’s nothing more than a rumour that many of its residents aren’t, and plenty of humans are placed into Diasomnia,” Leona shrugged, “but at the very least that shitty Dorm Head, Malleus Draconia, is one hundred percent Fey.”

Yuu remembered the murmuring at the opening ceremony about some scary man who went by the name Malleus, but right now the last part of his sentence was more important.

“Fey,” she gasped, eyes shining. “ _Fairies_ exist in this world? Do they have pointy ears? What about the whole flying thing? And—”

Leona silenced her with a forehead flick. “Listen until the end.”

Ruggie snickered at her as Yuu rubbed at her reddening forehead behind her bangs sulkily. “Who hasn’t heard of Fairies before?”

Yuu stuck her tongue out at him.

“That bastard Malleus,” Leona told her slowly, “has single-handedly wiped out every opponent he’s faced in every Magift tourney he’s participated in. Guess who got to be his first opponent last year and the year before?”

“Uh,” Yuu smiled weakly, “Savanaclaw?”

“Ha.” The laugh was devoid of humour. “But there’s more than one way to challenge an opponent. You know what the Savanaclaw dorm is founded on? An indomitable spirit.”

“If we can’t win by challenging them to their face,” Ruggie crossed his arms behind his head, “We can win by making it impossible for them to. Simple strategy.”

The utter lack of repentance in their faces might have disgusted some, disappointed others. Yuu, however, had separated this world’s ‘morals’ from the morals of her world entirely after the people from Heartslabyul had taught her that NRC was a breeding ground for evil.

It wasn’t like she had the right to judge them.

“What do the other dorms have to do with this then?” Yuu asked, confused. “Looks like you’re _really_ after Diasomnia. But today you were aiming for Scarabia, right? And before that, Heartslabyul, Ignihyde, Pomefiore…”

“It’s not fair to just focus on one dorm, is it?” Leona showed her a singularly wicked smile. “Evening out the numbers should proceed _equally_. Plus, it’ll serve as a good warning for those smart enough to notice. That we’re coming after them.”

Yuu stared at him until he took her hand and clamped it down on a pawn. Absently she made the first move, still thinking. “But it’s like putting the noose around your neck all by yourself. You know Rosehearts-sen—er, my friends are coming after you, right?”

Leona tipped his own pawn forward. “So?” he asked indifferently. “It’s impossible for them to say anything, even given the fact that they caught Ruggie or me. Since no one has left behind _any_ evidence. Even today…can you really prove that you didn’t just fall down the stairs? That the rich boy from Scarabia didn’t just trip?”

“Huh…” Yuu blinked at him. She dropped her chess piece. “You say all this stuff about sneaking around…but you guys aren’t sneaking around at all!”

Ruggie clapped for her, the bright sound filling the room. “I’m surprised you got it,” he grinned, “that’s right. We’re not trying to hide or do something so _unfair_ , as the stupid would call it. We might be using a different method, but it’s being done pretty much in the open. Those two Heartslabyul first years that you sort of smell like even chased me down the hall a few days ago, but they walked away empty-handed.”

“We’re not hiding,” Leona finished. “We’re giving them as much warning as they need. Making it obvious that we’re playing a little ‘game’. If it’s this visible, then it’s their own incompetence if they can’t manage to stop us after all our hints.”

“Leona-san,” Ruggie shook his head admiringly. “Really can’t find anyone with this guy’s brainpower around here.”

“You know,” Yuu crossed her arms after making her next move. “This school is basically facilitating your actions. Why the heck do they pit your team against the strongest and then boot you out if you lose?”

“Agreed. Thanks to that, Savanaclaw was out first match of last year’s games and the year before that,” Leona said darkly, moving his knight.

“That’s…that just doesn’t make sense,” Yuu squinted at the board. “I was told that scouts come to the school looking for future players. And that this is broadcast worldwide. How foolish can the rules committee be if they don’t let the players show their full potential?”

“Who cares?” Leona took her pawn. “Either way, that’s how it is here, and there’s no way for us lowly students to change it no matter what our status is.”

“Status?” Yuu mumbled.

“So we’re going to make it so we win,” Leona tapped his rook playfully. “Simple as that. What, do you disdain us for our actions like everyone else?”

“Who’s everyone else?” Yuu reached forward to take his pawn in retaliation.

“Some cheeky Savana first year,” Ruggie listed, ticking on his fingers, “your two little friends, Heartslabyul’s Dorm Head…want me to go on?”

“I don’t think they would disdain you—at least, Ace and Deuce aren’t good enough people to _disdain_ someone for something like that,” Yuu looked over at him thoughtfully. “But you guys are using the system to show how bad it is, right? Playing within the rules. Like a game of chess. So it’s not like you’re behaving like cowards…not really.”

Leona reached forward and mussed up her hair energetically. “This kid,” his voice was brightened with a smile, “why do you say such good things?”

“Hair!” she yelped over their laughter. Yuu didn’t really understand Therianthropes’ sense of humour. “And that doesn’t mean I’m okay with you using unnecessary violence! I’m only staying here because I can’t move! Are you listening!?”

Yuu was very clear that although these two were in a pleasant mood now, someone who didn’t care that they’d tipped her off the stairs would also not care about hurting her more. Especially if Ruggie had hurt the rest of the students—including Trey and Jamil.

It was wiser to watch carefully until she was sure she could win.

She managed to struggle free after a while and glared at Leona, who didn’t look the least bit bothered, straightening her bird’s nest. “Anyway! I’m not a good person either and I don’t really get what you mean by disdaining or whatever. More importantly! How do you guys not leave any evidence? Our stakeout team has been stumped for the longest time, you know.”

As Yuu lost another game of chess, Ruggie ducked out of the room and came back with a bowl of trail mix. The two of them explained the hyena Therianthrope’s unique magic, which he called _Laugh with Me_ or ‘Fool’s March’, while they ate (Yuu was fond of the dark chocolate chunks). According to him, this unique magic wasn’t necessarily cast on a target—it was cast on _himself_ and then over an area of effect, whereupon any movement he made would be mirrored by his targets.

“I get it,” Yuu ignored the check she’d fallen into to point excitedly around Leona over at Ruggie. “ _That’s_ why you needed the crowd of Savanaclaw students to stand around you. When you cast it in Kalim-senpai’s direction and stepped down the stairs, if his movements matched yours exactly, it would leave evidence, so you hid yourself using them as a cover!”

“Bingo!” Ruggie popped a cashew in his mouth.

“And you don’t necessarily have to cut yourself to make someone else cut themselves like Jamil-senpai…or dump ingredients into a cauldron…you just need to move your hands,” Yuu gained momentum. She nearly lunged off the bed in excitement. “Brilliant! No wonder no one could catch you. That alchemy accident was _wicked_ cool—”

Leona hauled her bodily back into her previous position. “Hurry up and make your move,” he snapped as she clutched her ankle in agony, “and stop wiggling around. Do you understand you’re an injured party?”

“Ow,” Yuu croaked.

Even though this was Leona’s room, she nearly fell into the illusion they were back in the botanical gardens again. The three of them had been visiting the same spot on and off again for two weeks—no time at all, but still enough to recognise Leona’s mean-spirited teasing for his version of friendly banter. Enough for her to let Ruggie dig out the contents of her bag without admonishment. Enough for them to sink into a comfortable silence as the hyena Therianthrope picked up the clothes strewn around Leona’s room and gathered it into a laundry basket.

“Hey Ruggie-senpai,” Yuu called between games as he retrieved the blazer he’d lent her, washed and folded at the top of her bag. “Do your Unique Magic on me.”

Ruggie squinted at her like she was insane. “Are you insane?”

Leona snorted. “By this point you should just get used to the herbivore’s lack of fear. Also attributable to ignorance.”

“Yes, yes, I’m a fool,” she said impatiently, flapping a hand in his direction. “Come on, please? I want to know what it feels like.”

“… _Haaa_.” Ruggie sighed and held up a glass container. “All right. But only if you let me eat whatever this is.”

Yuu realised with a start that she’d left the packed omurice lunches in her bag without managing to bring them to Heartslabyul. But she did have leftover ingredients and food was best eaten right away…

She’d just have to make it again next time.

“Okay,” she said with a smile, “now hurry!”

Ruggie rolled his eyes as she surreptitiously released the Stasis Charm on the containers of omurice that fell from her bag. Still, he gamely sat across from her on Leona’s oversized bed before pulling out his Pen topped with a crystal the colour of topaz. “ _Laugh with Me!_ ”

Yuu experienced a curious sensation stealing over her limbs as she faced him. Nothing as obvious as the runny egg of the Disillusionment Charm—just a slight numbness at the corner of her brain, her fingertips.

Ruggie grinned at her—she noted distantly that her facial features were not controlled by this Unique Magic—and lifted his right arm.

Yuu felt slightly dizzy. By the time she recovered, she’d lifted her right arm into the air to match his.

“Whoa,” Yuu muttered, dazed. “This feels really weird.”

“Tell me about it,” Ruggie had his brows scrunched together in confusion. “I guess it’s ‘cause you’ve got no magic or resistance to magic, but I’ve never had my Unique Magic cast this easily on anyone, ever.”

“What does it feel like?” she asked curiously.

“For me? Like nothing.” He shrugged. She shrugged with him. “What about you? Does it feel like mind control?”

“Surprisingly, no,” Yuu responded as he made her fold and unfold her fingers into a fist in front of her. “There’s a bit of interference in my head…I was dizzy for a second, but it’s not like I’ve lost my will. But I don’t feel like I’m being forced to move. It’s like you’ve hijacked my motor signals only.”

“Huh.” Ruggie put his chin in his fingers; she followed suit. “You sure are defenceless, to _ask_ me to cast Unique Magic on you. I could walk you backwards off the ledge over there.”

“We’ve been through this already,” Yuu rolled her eyes at him. “It’s dumb to murder a student backed by the Headmaster, and you guys wouldn’t kill anyone so easily when you can use live people for your benefit.”

Plus…she needed to know about his Unique Magic if she wanted to know how to combat it.

If she wanted to stop him.

Yuu had not forgiven either of them for hurting Trey.

Ruggie lost all expression from his face. His eyes were dead serious as he warned her, “If Leona-san tells me to, I _will_ do it. Even if it means hurting you again.”

Yuu’s hands closed around her own throat as he mimicked strangling himself. But this was nothing compared to Floyd’s threat, so she met his gaze solemnly. “And if you try to hurt someone again, I’m going to stop you.”

“Please,” Ruggie dismissed her with a roll of his eyes, “what can you even do?”

—

“You still haven’t asked the most important question.” Some time later, Leona tipped her queen across the board and lifted a brow.

Ruggie, who was dozing against the headboard after devouring all five containers of her omurice—“It’s still hot?!” he’d yelped, blowing on the chicken—cracked one eye open before turning around and burying his head under his arms.

Yuu wished her bag was close enough for her to pull out the Ghost Camera—that movement had been just like a cat’s and it was _so cute_. Instead she moved her pawn and pointed at him triumphantly. “Stalemate, sucker!”

Leona rolled his eyes to hide a smile. “I walked into that one on purpose.”

“Yeah, whatever. It still means I didn’t _lose_ ,” she puffed out her chest proudly. “Now the score’s nineteen-one-zero.”

“Sad.”

“I’m learning, okay?” Yuu rubbed her eyes sleepily. The sun was starting to sink into oranges outside the window. “So what’s the question I haven’t asked?”

“It’s the question anyone else would have asked,” Leona swept the board haphazardly to the side and lay down lazily, tail swishing. “Why, they would wonder, am I here in the first place?”

“Oh, right,” Yuu recalled. She’d been mulling over the implications of Leona’s plan with such interest that her own presence had been left in the dust of her mind. “Um…to make me shut up about the whole plan you’re plotting?”

“Try again. In the first place, if we hadn’t told you anything, you wouldn’t have anything to snitch about.”

“True.” Yuu stretched out her throbbing foot and leaned on a plush cushion pensively. “The other options are being some sort of hostage like senpai mentioned earlier.” Or Leona was worried about hurting a female, but Ruggie was within earshot, so she didn’t mention it.

“Finally,” Leona rolled his eyes. “I was wondering if you had any awareness that you were kidnapped. That’s right. You’re a hostage.”

“For who, though?” Yuu wrinkled her nose. “I’m public enemy number one around here and I don’t even know that many people.”

“The kids chasing after us just happen to be acquainted with you,” Leona lifted one eyebrow. “The Queen and his little assortment of soldiers. Am I wrong?”

“Yeah, but they won’t just…” Yuu frowned. “Can you explain what you mean by ‘hostage’ a little more?”

“Your little friends and one of our rebellious first-years are plotting something together,” Leona yawned, pulling a blanket over his stomach. “We’ve been tracking their movements the past couple days, but they’ve probably figured out what we’re up to the day of the tournament.”

“Which is,” she prodded.

“None of your business,” Leona responded smartly. “But they’re planning something. So we decided to get leverage on them some way…and look who tumbled down the stairs straight into our laps.”

“Me,” Yuu rolled her eyes. “So you’re going to use me to threaten them the day of the tournament? I hope you know I’m not going to take that sitting down.”

“Shut up and at least recover your foot before you leave,” Leona snapped. “I know you have no sense of self-preservation, but the least you could do is pretend to care about your own life.”

Yuu blinked at him. “But you’re going to use me against my friends,” she said blankly. “You indirectly _hurt_ my friends.”

He rubbed his brow. “Okay,” he sighed, “I’ll ask just in case. What do you plan on doing, herbivore?”

“Getting out of here,” Yuu responded frankly. “No matter how. I won’t let you put them at a disadvantage.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I like them.” Yuu hesitated. “Deuce told me he trusts me.”

Leona gave her a long, unreadable look. “Listen, kid,” he slowed his words mockingly. “A full-grown man trying to escape Savanaclaw is impossible. _You_ trying to escape Savanaclaw is laughable even without the injury. If you accidentally kill yourself leaping from a ledge, it’ll cause trouble the likes of which the school has never seen.”

“But…”

“This isn’t like your usual logical thought process,” Leona gave her an admonishing glare. “Why don’t you think about getting better first and worming out of here second?”

Yuu closed her mouth, chastened. He was right—it was irrational for her to attempt an escape in unfavourable conditions. That she was here marked a good opportunity for her to learn more about this place, try to get information about Leona’s plan out of someone, and possibly alert the stakeout team or at least help them from the inside.

But she remembered with a pang—Grim was still all alone in Ramshackle. She had been ready to introduce her version of Japanese food to Heartslabyul for the first time today. Kalim and Jamil would freak out if they returned to the infirmary with her gone.

Leona flicked her in the forehead. “Stop making that face,” he said gruffly. “We’re the ones who kidnapped you. So just blame us. Got it?”

Yuu shot him a spiteful look. “You’re even worse of a tyrant than Rosehearts-senpai is,” she muttered.

“What an honour,” he drawled. Unlike Riddle, Leona seemed to relish in the insult, narrowing his emerald eyes in satisfaction. “This tyrant is going to be the one who smears Diasomnia’s face into the ground in two weeks.”

Leona tended to vacillate between wakefulness and naps at the drop of a hat. He stretched out on Ruggie’s other side, out like a light in five seconds. Yuu looked down at the two deeply breathing Savanaclaw students and wondered just how things had come to this over something as insipid as Magift.

These past two weeks she’d seen Ruggie’s greed and opportunism, Leona’s intelligence masked behind his lazy demeanour and now—their ambition. Her ankle throbbed in time to the slow, even exhales warming Savanaclaw’s afternoon air as she recalled that dead blankness in Leona’s eyes when he’d told her it was better to give up.

Yuu put her head in a pillow and punched it in frustration. After struggling her way into peace with Heartslabyul, she had expected her only hurdle to be finding a way back to her world. Yet no progress had been made in that area—instead, right now, all she could think about was what she should do to rid that expression from his face…

The pillow was full of that sandalwood and sun scent that Leona carried around him. Yuu thought absently that she still needed to return his vest before her eyes closed in exhaustion.

Leona cracked open one eye to examine her small form curled up around a pillow before him. “I’ve said before to stop being so defenceless,” he sighed. “Especially around predators who you can’t trust.”

—

Yuu was startled awake Monday morning when Leona tossed her on top of a creaky bed. She bounced briefly on the springs with the movement, but he had been more careful than his rough personality suggested, and her ankle only throbbed weakly.

Yawning, she pushed herself up on her arms and looked around confusedly. The room they were in was less than half the size of Leona’s bedroom and contained only a single bed, which she occupied, a dusty-looking dresser and desk, and a heavily curtained window heavy with cobwebs.

Leona pulled his Pen from his pocket and flicked it at the floor lazily—Yuu barely had time to wonder why he was covering his nose before a huge cloud of dust formed in the air in a cyclone. Eyes watering as wind whipped past her hair, she followed suit, cupping her face with her hands as sharp blades of air cut the dirt from around her bed, the floor, and the furniture.

Without difficulty or a single word of complaint, Leona pulled out a plastic bag to contain all of the dust he’d summoned before starting to attack the curtained window with his Pen. Yuu, who was wide awake by now, watched him work more diligently than she’d ever seen and wondered what the hell was going on.

Within ten minutes, the dust in the room had been collected. On the ground was the dusty blanket that used to cover her bed; in its place was a clean-looking comforter stacked by her foot along with a large bag that looked like it was from a brand-name muggle store.

Yuu finally mustered her sleep-smothered voice as Leona spelled the curtain to lift and hang itself up, exposing the cornflower blue of a pale dawn. “…What the heck?” she managed intelligently.

Leona tied the bag expertly. “This is your room starting today,” he said, as if he hadn’t been demonstrating some of the most advanced Charms-work she’d ever seen. Or was it offensive magic re-purposed to turn into a vacuum cleaner? “Use it as you’d like.”

Yuu raised her hand like she was in class. “Um,” she said weakly, “I am a hostage, right?”

“Obviously.” Leona put the bag down beside the dirty blanket and sat gracefully at her bedside. He waved his wand and her schoolbag came zooming in through the door; withdrawing the small bottle he’d handed to her weeks ago, Leona dangled it in front of her. “Remember this?”

“The thing that is supposed to hide my scent?” Yuu nodded. “I’ve been using it pretty much daily since you told me what it was for a couple of weeks ago. Why?”

“I know.” Leona nodded once in satisfaction after sniffing beside her ear once. “But now you’re in Savana territory. We all have senses that exceed those of a regular human, so you’ll use this more liberally than you have before. Be especially wary of Therianthropes with the ears of a bear or a wolf. Their senses of smell can even overpower mine.”

“Oh, um, okay…”

“Use it on your pulse points every time you shower and in the mornings—and you should remain undiscovered,” Leona kept going, as if reciting from a textbook. “The only washroom you should use is the one attached to my room, which is right beside yours. There’s no need to ask for permission. Toiletries and other stuff women use should be in that bag over there. Clothes are on their way—I had Ruggie dig out some of his old hand-me-downs for you to wear should yours get dirty. Don’t go out into the hallways past lights out. Some of the—”

“Wait,” Yuu spluttered, putting up a hand to stymie the oncoming tide of information. “Wait, wait, wait, senpai. Information overload. In the first place, why are you telling me all this and being so…if I’m being kidnapped, shouldn’t you just throw me into a corner tied up or something?”

Leona frowned at her. He looked almost confused. “You’re a hostage,” he confirmed. “You’re still a woman. Girl. Whatever. This is the least I should be doing.”

“But I’m acting as a boy right now.”

“Shut it,” he growled bad-temperedly. “The one who gave Ruggie the order to tip over Scarabia’s young master was me. In the end, that resulted in your injury. So shut up and let me finish.”

This time her mouth dropped open. “Leona-senpai…”

“I’ll come check on your ankle periodically,” Leona kept going, steamrolling her words. “I examined it while you conked out like a fool last night, but it’s probably just a sprain, so I’ll brew a potion for it next weekend. You’ll have to put up with balm and bandages until then.”

Yuu caught the items he tossed at her with a yelp. “Senpai,” she regarded him in wonder. “Are you feeling _guilty_?”

“Of course not,” Leona said stiffly. “Hurting a woman, however indirectly, is still a crime where I come from.”

“A _crime_ ,” she repeated. “Seriously, I don’t mind, and it wasn’t even your fault—”

“I don’t wanna hear it, goody-two-shoes,” he cut her off again. “Savanaclaw wakes early, so it’s gonna get noisy soon. I’ll have Ruggie carry in your breakfast at nine. Any issues?”

She gaped at him.

Leona flicked her in the forehead. “Any issues?” he repeated loftily. “Speak now or don’t mention anything again.”

After a solid twelve hours of sleep, Yuu’s recovered mental facilities were finally working well enough for her to digest everything that had taken place the past day. “Issues,” she repeated, deciding to ignore what had just transpired for the sake of her sanity. “Right. I do have some, actually, if all you said yesterday was true. You were the one behind Trey-senpai and Jamil-senpai getting injured, right?”

He raised a brow. “The vice Dorm Heads of Heartslabyul and Scarabia? What of it?”

Yuu took a deep breath, drew her fist back and punched him in the stomach with all she had. Her knuckles met solid muscle; pain rocketed up her fingers. But without showing it on her face, she narrowed both eyes at him in a glare. “— _That’s_ for hurting them.”

Leona stared at her. He hadn’t even been winded.

Yuu shook out her fist painfully, but still fixed him with a serious glare. “I know you’re being all nice and stuff, and I should be thanking you for giving me all…” she waved at the room, “ _this_ , but Trey-senpai getting hurt was not ac—”

The third year pressed a glove to his eyes, tilted his head back, and broke into laughter.

Yuu jumped in surprise and hissed as her ankle reminded her it was still damaged. “Stop _doing_ that,” she managed, massaging her calf.

“I was wondering if you lacked life to you, since you never got angry with the Headmaster, with this school, with your situation,” Leona recovered, though he still snorted every few seconds. “But that look in your eye was good, herbivore. Maybe you’ll survive in here yet.”

“I’ve never seen anyone laugh when they were punched before.” Yuu lifted an eyebrow at him. “You don’t have any weird hobbies, do you?”

“As if that counts as a punch,” Leona shook his head, ruffling her hair. He completely ignored her biting joke. “…You’re so docile I was wondering if you were really a girl, but that’s the spirit.”

“What does that mean?” Yuu asked, staying still for him. She was used to having people mess up her hair by now.

“Right, you don’t know.” Leona narrowed his eyes in remembrance. “…The women of the Afterglow Savannah are dominant in both violence and position, though society is patriarchal. Honestly, they’re scary as hell.”

“Cool,” Yuu caught onto the topic with interest. “I’d like to meet one someday.”

“First,” He let her go, “you have to fix that ankle of yours. All right? I’ll go find you a crutch. And don’t even think about running away.”

Yuu straightened her hair. “You know as a hostage it feels very strange when my captor is such a gentleman.”

“Deal with it,” Leona told her and dropped the curtain down behind his retreating back.

—

True to his word, Leona brought her several sets of clothing via Ruggie by breakfast time. The hyena Therianthrope had dumped the clothes on her bed, handed her a long, polished stick, and set down a tray of oatmeal, milk and fruit with the deftness of someone who had been doing the same thing for years. He’d told her cheerfully that they were off to school now and to be good while they were gone, else she might only be a pile of bones when they returned. Yuu rolled her eyes and thanked him for the food. It was delicious.

Savanaclaw was rowdy and energetic in the mornings—she could hear the noise of late-waking students dashing down the hallways and soaring past the windows on brooms. They also spoke in undecipherable growls at times, which was _extremely_ interesting. Ruggie had told her there was a class on animal languages in the second year and Yuu couldn’t believe that the different languages weren’t between humans but between other _species_. This meant that Lucius’ unearthly yowling had _meaning_!

She waited until silence returned to the space around her before grabbing a set of clothes, a towel, and some of the expensive-looking toiletries Leona had deposited at the foot of her bed. The walking stick had a flat top that matched the height of her armpit exactly; Yuu swung herself slowly past the curtain that marked the door and ducked into Leona’s room to shower.

The shower itself was as large and extravagant as the Prefect’s bath in Hogwarts, which was the only reason Yuu had considered taking up the Prefect position at the end of her fourth year. It was a good thing she hadn’t—now that she wasn’t even attending Hogwarts anymore.

Now that she might never return anymore.

She soaked herself in the huge carved-out pool slowly, rinsed herself with the fragrant shampoo and conditioner and body wash, and liberally dabbed the contents of Leona’s scent-hiding bottle behind her ears, on her neck and wrists, behind her knees, on the insides of her elbows. Yuu couldn’t smell anything from the bottle, but if he said it hid her scent well enough, she had no reason to doubt him. She had gotten used to wearing it like lotion after her nightly showers at Ramshackle.

After magically washing the enchanted set of underwear Crewel had provided her with, she checked her appearance in the mirror while brushing her teeth. Yuu’s hair had lengthened even more than she’d expected, but with Ruggie’s old baggy _dashiki_ shirt and cargo pants on over the flattening underwear, she was sure no one could tell she was female. She tied her hair into a knot against her neck like usual, swung herself back into her room, and rebandaged her swollen ankle carefully with the supplied balm.

It was time she took stock of the situation.

First—she was probably not going to be able to leave until Leona was done with her. Even without this ankle impeding her, Yuu had seen how quickly Therianthropes like Ruggie could run, known how well they could track a scent. Given that she managed to escape in the first place, she was sure they would capture her in no time.

Second—Yuu cast _Hominium revelio_ and found that there were still people around. Several. Neither Ruggie nor Leona were stupid. It made sense that they’d leave a guard or two, and there would always be a few skipping class.

Third—this meant that she would be missing at least two weeks of school. Yuu clutched her head in despair as she pictured Trein staring down at her with that disapproving frown. Crewel snapping his crop in her direction with a barked out ‘ _bad boy!_ ’. Most importantly, her marks were going to plunge…she was sure of it. For a Ravenclaw, that cut deeper than she would have liked.

Yuu moped for a while before shaking her head. _Stupid_ , she chided herself. _Right now you have an opportunity, so don’t waste it_.

She _had_ been given free reign of the enemy lair.

Savanaclaw’s infinite staircase was almost like the twisting labyrinth of Alice in Wonderland walkways that formed Heartslabyul’s maze of stairs, but contrary to her expectations, these were straightforward to traverse and led her quite easily to the bottom. Yuu, who had been prepared to waste hours getting lost, breathed a sigh of relief before she squared her shoulders and entered the lounge.

With a surprisingly good night’s sleep fuelling her steps, Yuu spent the majority of the day exploring Savanaclaw—its lounge, kitchen, peeking through windows and generally marking the perimeter. She hadn’t had a chance to do so with Heartslabyul (though recently, having been invited for tea parties, video game marathons, and the like, she had more or less managed to grasp the layout of the Red Queen’s dorm), but Savanaclaw was so fresh and exciting to her that Yuu’s curiosity bubbled up like it had back when she’d entered the botanical gardens for the first time.

At first she didn’t notice she was being followed, but when Yuu peered around the curtain of a door, a whoosh of air preceded the appearance of a sinewy, tall student wearing the vest and tunic that she’d come to associate with Savanaclaw’s dorm clothing.

“Oi,” he growled. The leopard-patterned ears poking out of his sandy hair were turned in her direction; his tail hovered threateningly high. “Stop wandering around places you’re not allowed.”

Yuu blinked and swung herself back a step. “…Um, good afternoon?”

“Got it?” he ignored her.

“Are you a leopard Therianthrope?” Yuu ignored him back.

“If you’re hungry, go grab something from the kitchen you just went through. Dorm Head’s given permission for you to take anything from the top three shelves of the fridge.”

“Really?” Yuu perked up. “More importantly, Mister Leopard, what year are you?”

The student crossed his arms, glaring at her. “…Second.”

“How do you move that fast, senpai?” Yuu swung herself back towards him a step, ignoring the way his ears pricked. Her eyes shone with excitement. “I couldn’t see where you were at all! Were you hiding or were you just following me? Your steps were so quiet.”

Perhaps infected by her good mood, the leopard (temporary) looked down his nose at her proudly. “Please, as if that was difficult for me. You came through the lounge without noticing me at all, kid. I was there the whole time.”

“Really?” Yuu blinked. “Either you’re really good at blending in or I really suck at detecting people.”

“Why not both,” the leopard Therianthrope said dryly. “…Well. Hiding is my strong suit. So I was the perfect one to see if you were stupid enough to try and escape without you noticing.”

“Nah. Leona-senpai already warned me not to,” she demurred, “and you’d just drag me back if I tried, no? So instead I’m scouting the area.”

To her surprise, Leopard showed her his fangs in a grin. “You sure got some guts to say that straight out in enemy territory.”

“I mean, it’s not like I can hide it from people who can smell if I lie or show any form of fear.” Yuu shrugged offhandedly. Though perhaps Leona’s scent hider might effectively help mask the smell of a lie, she wasn’t willing to test it. “And you can’t exactly lock me up in a room, can you? Since Savanaclaw doesn’t have doors.”

Leopard looked at her appraisingly. “…You know, I’ve heard a lot of bad stuff about the Ramshackle Dorm’s sole resident, but they didn’t tell me you were so fearless. You know you are a hostage here, right?”

“Right,” Yuu grinned at him. “For now.”

Leopard made a good conversationalist, surprisingly, and he followed her willingly enough as she approached the kitchen. As thanks for speaking with her, Yuu pulled out some thawed steak and grilled it for the both of them beside a plate of vegetables. After all, protein was beneficial for her right now if she wanted to recover quickly.

The two of them ate at the table by the kitchen. Leopard seemed impressed that she could make anything—“The only one who can cook worth shit around here is Ruggie,” he’d said through a mouthful of meat—and comically surprised at how little she ate.

“I’m a regular human who eats regular meals,” Yuu rolled her eyes, chewing on a piece of broccoli.

“I’ve never seen a regular human eat this little,” Leopard snorted back. “How do you survive on that? It’s probably ‘cause you’re so weak and helpless that Ruggie managed to nab you as a hostage.” 

“Can’t deny it,” she admitted with a sigh. “My worst subject is stamina training right now and since I can’t use magic, I can’t even participate in flight class. Easy pickings.”

Leopard gave her a look of profound pity. “Man…you sure drew the short stick in life. Getting blown all the way here without magic, getting dragged into the school with that cat, getting wrapped up in Heartslabyul’s explosion and now you’re trapped in here with a twisted ankle. Plus everyone hates you.”

“When you say it like that, it sounds really depressing,” Yuu winced. She didn’t consider herself unlucky—in fact, if you thought about it, she was unbelievably fortunate to have surpassed dimensions.

Even if it meant she might be slowly destroying the world by being here.

Leopard said something about exchanging shifts with someone else, but he stayed to help her wash the dishes before waving goodbye civilly enough. Yuu patted her full stomach as she laid the plates on the rack to dry and swung back into the lounge to sit and plan.

The best chance she had of escaping was probably the day of the match. Two weeks was a long time, but with the speed at which Leopard had appeared in front of her, Yuu knew it was suicide to try and escape now—after one attempt, they might really tie her up and she’d be done for.

It was better to wait until the day of. She didn’t know what Leona had planned with Ruggie and the others, but during transportation, or during the Magift game, there would be ample time to fool them in the confusion and escape.

The couches shaded in alcoves absorbed the sun excellently and made for a warm nest. Yuu dozed on and off in the wide-open, empty lounge, her only companion the rushing of the waterfall, and was only startled awake when the first students arrived back from school.

Yuu was content to let them be—but here, she was public enemy number one. She should have known they would not feel the same.

According to Leopard, rumours about how she’d cheated to get into the school without magic did not sit well with anyone who’d heard it. Even those who didn’t believe in rumours thought her an eyesore in the midst of this world-renowned school filled with genius magicians. Yuu had known vaguely how whispers and stares followed her down the hallways, how Scarabia’s students in particular seemed to have something against her. But the details were new.

Ace had once called her thick-skinned, that she was far too unaware of the things going around her. Socially inept. Yuu knew he was right—it was one of her many flaws—but having never been good at communication or interested in her surroundings, she hadn’t quite realized the extent of her bad reputation until a small jeering crowd gathered at the couch she was sitting on.

“Well, well, boys, look what we have here,” one with the round ears of a bear shuffled forwards, pointing in her direction. “It’s the _burden_ who got captured by accident.”

“Now, now, don’t say it like that,” laughed another, his floppy ears falling against his hair, “he’s just a hostage. Bait.”

“That’s not much better,” a third student gave her an unpleasant smirk. “Hey, you. What the hell do you think you’re doing, sitting so comfortably in our Savana lounge? Hurry up and get outta here.”

“Wait a second,” Bear snatched her crutch from where it had been leaning against the wall, “you _can’t_. Ha ha ha!”

Jeering laughter flooded the lounge. Yuu looked over the heads of her three tormentors and found a growing crowd of students gathered within. All of them were sneering unpleasantly at her.

“What,” Floppy Ears’ grin widened into a snarl when she didn’t respond. “Can’t talk anymore, little mouse? Man, you’re so small it isn’t even fun to pick on you.”

“We’re here to give you a warning, kid,” the third student told her pleasantly. “Stay in your room like a good little boy and don’t cause trouble for Ruggie or Leona-san, got it? No one cares about you, but the weak die and the strong live here in Savana. You don’t wanna get hunted…do you?”

“That’s right,” Bear tossed her crutch back and forth between his hands. “You’re already getting treated well enough for a hostage. Don’t mistake that for a chance to get too big for your britches, kid. We all know who you are.”

“The oh-so-poor kid that got summoned here by _mistake._ ”

“And somehow convinced the Headmaster to leave him here as a Directing Student,” Floppy Ears snorted.

“Who doesn’t even participate in Flying Class like the rest of the kids,” sneered Bear. “You’re so useless I can’t tell what Headmaster is thinking, letting you live here.”

“Why don’t you just leave?”

Yuu took in the insults categorically. So this was what she looked like to others—but to be honest, if someone alien like her were to show up at Hogwarts, she could guess they’d be treated the same. Of course, the rumourmongers didn’t know the whole story, but she couldn’t even bring herself to argue, because they were right.

It _was_ unfair that she had been selected without effort—without their magic when these students in front of her had worked unceasingly in hopes of hearing the creak of that black carriage show up at their door.

It _was_ unfair that she was lounging around Savanaclaw, being treated so well for a hostage, robbing the school of its resources.

It was unfair that Yuu even existed here.

Still, her silence seemed to worsen their moods. “When your senpai is talking to you,” barked Bear, “you say, _yes sir_ , you little shit!”

Yuu blinked at him. He was an upperclassman? “Yes sir.”

“Hmph.” The big hulking figure seemed to lose interest in her. As a last hurrah, he looked down at the crutch he held in his hands and flung it over his head, where it landed with a splash into the river. “Stay out of our way.”

None of them exercised physical violence on her, but she knew it wasn’t because they were weak. The physical difference between humans and Therianthropes was so apparent that it was probably beneath them to hurt her more than she’d already been damaged.

Floppy Ears didn’t look done with her, and neither did the third student with small triangular ears, but before any of them could say anything more, a low growl rumbled through the lounge, prickling the air.

“Oi.”

Even the human Yuu felt the wave of pressure rushing through the lounge. Together with the Therianthropes seated in various relaxed positions around the room, she turned her head to behold the new arrival stepping towards them, brows furrowing in caution.

Yuu wondered where she had seen this Therianthrope before, because she couldn’t shake the familiarity. He was tall—taller, perhaps, than even Jade and Floyd; the two magnificent furry ears sprouting from his neck-length silver hair lent him a full ten centimetres. The new arrival was also even more heavily muscled than the thickset Bear in front of her, and his dark arms bulged at the dorm vest he wore.

She tossed guesses back and forth in her mind, trying to figure out what animal he was associated with, until he narrowed amber eyes at the three surrounding her with a ferocious glare. Thick silver brows furrowed over those predatory eyes. _Oh,_ she thought with certainty, _that’s a wolf right there._

“Senpai-tachi,” he pronounced slowly, his voice rumbling low enough to put her hairs on end. “I don’t believe it’s very praiseworthy to bully a helpless student from another dorm.”

“This is none of your business, Jack,” Floppy Ears took one step back in caution, though his tone was derisive and light. “Stay out of it.”

“What are you doing here?” Bear grumbled nervously. “I thought you were off playing buddy with the enemy.”

“Stand down,” Triangle Ears turned up his nose. His long tail, however, hung downwards in what looked like fear. “Or else we’ll have to wipe your face in the dirt like last time, won’t we?”

The newly named Jack clenched his considerable fist and bared his teeth in a growl. “It pisses me off,” he said slowly, almost politely, “when I enter the lounge of my dorm to see weaklings who only know how to pick on someone smaller than them.”

“Jack—”

“If you want to fight, why don’t you try bullying me?” A vein throbbed against his temple. “Aaah? Come at me with all you got. I don’t mind.”

“Jack, we don’t want any trouble,” Bear said slowly, starting to lower his centre of gravity.

“Then please back off, senpai-tachi.” Jack paused and shut his eyes briefly. “…Otherwise, I’ll have to report this to Leona-senpai.”

The students might have been wary of this Jack—but Yuu saw now that they were downright terrified of Leona. Bear laughed nervously and mumbled something about just having a bit of fun with the hostage. Floppy Ears and Triangle Ears didn’t even manage to open their mouths again. The three of them shuffled off looking rather pitiful, and the rest of the spectators in the lounge very obviously turned back among themselves to ignore Jack’s impressive figure standing before her.

Yuu gaped at the forced cheer that repurposed the lounge. Leona was _that_ scary? She’d have to ask him or Ruggie later, because quite frankly, Yuu didn’t see why they were so afraid of him.

For now, she turned back to Jack and lowered her head politely. “Um…thanks for scaring them off.”

Jack’s unpleasant frown didn’t change. He crossed his bulging arms and looked down at her. “…I didn’t do it for you,” he said gruffly. “It pisses me off when I see people who act like that when they’re upperclassmen. Picking on weak prey is just ugly.”

“Still, if we’re just looking at results, you saved…”

But Jack wasn’t listening. Instead, he’d loped lightly towards the river pool some distance away and reached in with his glove. When he returned to where she was sitting, he held her wet crutch in his hand. “Here,” he said gruffly. “Don’t let it get taken away from you again.”

Yuu stared up at him like he had just offered her a million Madols.

Jack, who caught her gaze, cast his eyes to the side. “What?” he grumbled. “Hurry up and take it already.”

 _Ace, you’re wrong_ , Yuu thought dumbly, reaching forwards to accept the polished wood stick from him. _There might be one good person in NRC after all._

“Wait,” she blurted out as he turned to the side. “I’m Yuu. First year student living in Ramshackle. People call me the Directing Student.”

Jack, to her surprise, squeezed in on the other side of the alcove to sit with her instead of walking away. He dwarfed the table almost comically. “I know.”

“Nice to meet you…” she cocked her head at him.

“…Jack Howl. First year.” He responded reluctantly, scratching at his head with his dry glove. “…You’re a weird kid.”

“I get that a lot,” Yuu grinned at him. “Nice to meet you, Jack. I’ll return the favour after my leg gets better.”

Jack shook it off impatiently. “I told you I did it for myself,” he said. “More importantly. Your…is that wound on your foot from Ruggie-senpai?”

“Wound?” Yuu glanced at her bandaged ankle and thought for a moment. “…If we’re being specific, it was sort of my fault for falling down the stairs.”

“I already know their plan, so you don’t have to play dumb,” Jack sighed. He leaned across the table and lowered his voice. “Directing Student. You’re not going to just stay here obediently, are you?”

Yuu blinked. In close quarters, she could study a corded necklace with a white fang pendant hung from his neck, matching the wild silver curls of hair that fell over his head down past his chin. Unlike Kalim’s brighter colour, Jack’s hair had the barest highlight of dark grey in its silver that matched the tips of his magnificent ears.

She resisted the urge to scratch at those ears. “Aren’t you a Savanaclaw student?” she asked him cautiously. “Why are you asking me something like that?”

“No, it’s just…” Jack hesitated, glaring even more intensely as he thought. “For a captive who got mixed up in this mess for no reason—even if you’re the weakling fake who tricked his way into the school…”

“The rumours about me are getting worse and worse,” Yuu mumbled.

“You don’t look angry at all.” Jack turned the glare on her. “…You must have an idea of what Leona-senpai and everyone else here are up to. Why are you just sitting here?”

“Do I piss you off too?” Yuu asked him curiously.

“…People who don’t do anything to escape their situation…make me angry.” Jack gritted his teeth. “…but you’re injured and you’re so weak and small…”

Yuu watched him mutter to himself in fascination. She had yet to meet someone with such a straightforward personality as Jack Howl. Even Deuce, no matter how he tried to behave like a model student, had a nasty streak that made Ace tease him every time his speech patterns roughened. Sure, Jack’s glare was even more intense than Leona’s and he was huge and physically frightening, but neither Ace nor Deuce would have fished her crutch out of the water for her without asking for something in return. And they were her friends.

Yuu decided that she liked this person.

“Don’t worry,” she told Jack. “I’m not helpless. You probably won’t believe me, but I’ve sort of got a plan.”

Jack didn’t look appeased. “Why the hell did they kidnap you, of all people, anyway? Doesn’t fit in with their modus operandi.”

“See, Leona-senpai seems to think that I’d make a good hostage,” Yuu explained. “There are a few people in Heartslabyul that I made friends with and they’re apparently teaming up with a rebel? From Savanaclaw? Or something to try and stop him. I’m Leona-senpai’s insurance to prevent them from carrying out whatever their plan was.”

Jack whipped his head upwards in her direction, amber eyes widening. “What!? They injured a tiny animal like you for _that_?”

“I’m not tiny,” Yuu protested, giving up on the ‘animal’ thing. “And it’s not like I’m going to let them use me against my friends. Escape is going to be impossible for a couple days since my ankle is killing me, but I’m not planning to sit back and let myself be used.”

Jack’s healthy brown skin had paled a shade; he debated between speaking for a minute before sighing. “…Kid.”

“Yuu.”

“Whatever. Directing Student, listen. I don’t agree with what the upperclassmen are doing,” Jack told her pensively, a vein throbbing in his head. “It’s robbing the meaning of victory from a match and it makes me want to hurl. So I’m against their plan.”

Somehow, she wasn’t surprised. Yuu had just met Jack, but the sharpness of his gaze told her a lot about his straightforward personality. Still, why on earth would he reveal this information to someone he’d just met—and public enemy number one, at that?

Nevertheless, Yuu the knowledge-seeker listened as Jack lifted his lip to show her his long canines in a low growl that rumbled through the desk. “That’s why I’m in on the plan to stop Leona-senpai at the Magift tournament. Which means you being here is thwarting my plan.”

“I see?” Yuu blinked. Was he partnering with the first-year rebel Leona mentioned…or was he the rebel?

“So,” Jack scratched his head and looked away. “…If you really wanna get out here, I’m probably your best bet.”

—

To Jack’s uncomprehending frustration, Yuu didn’t end up taking him up on his offer right away. But he’d backed down reluctantly after she assured him that she knew what she was doing.

“I can’t get you mixed up in this,” Yuu had grinned, “Leona-senpai will murder the both of us. Plus, I told you I’ve got a plan. So don’t worry about me and just worry about yourself. You guys are planning stuff too…aren’t you?”

Jack scrunched up his face at her before sighing. “…I can understand that a man’s gotta do what he’s gotta do,” he grumbled, “but it’s your funeral, Directing Student. Don’t come crying to me even if you mess up.”

Yuu grinned foolishly at him. Jack Howl might not have been a ‘good person’ in the strictest sense of the world—after all, he was betraying his dorm and seeking the destruction of his upperclassmen’s plan just because he wanted to win a certain way—but compared to those around her, he looked almost like NRC’s (almost two metre tall) angel.

“I’m cheering you on,” she told him before he left.

Jack scoffed. “Worry about yourself first,” he’d said.

Yuu had thought she might have angered him again, but movement out of the corner of her eye caught her vision and she saw that a gigantic bushy tail sprouting from behind him was swaying back and forth slowly.

“Tail,” Yuu said intelligently.

The tail stopped moving. Jack growled, “Shut up!”

Out of a desire to see that glorious tail again, Yuu ignored her better judgment and wandered out into Savanaclaw’s lounge the next morning. Her evening had been spent debating recipes with Ruggie while he bustled around in the kitchen to make Leona’s supper (and theirs, while he was at it) but she was still starving by seven AM.

For some reason, Yuu had not had a single nightmare since she’d come to Savanaclaw—and she was _hungry_ all the time. It was wonderful for her mood and energy stores but caused her to constantly crave food, so after cleaning herself up and showering in Leona’s huge washroom (its resident was buried under a stack of pillows, snoring), she followed the infinite walkway back down to the first floor to sneak some food from the kitchen, humming intermittently.

Ruggie was there ahead of her. Yuu eyed his hyena’s short, bushy tail as he jogged between a sizzling pan and a tray laid out with fruit, inhaling the fragrant scent of cooking oil. Unlike the tapering of most tails to a point, his fanned out into a spray of dark brown hairs at its tip and swung back and forth like a feather duster as he moved.

“What’chu lookin’ at?” Ruggie gave her a suspicious frown as she hovered in the doorway. “Get your eyes off my butt.”

“When your tail swings back and forth, does it mean you’re in a good mood?” Yuu asked him, making her way over to the table.

“You never stop surprising people with weird conversation topics, do you?” Ruggie pushed a tray over to her side as she sat with a sigh of relief. “Can you put butter and jam on the toast? Leona-san refuses to eat bread unless it’s liberally smeared on.”

“Are you his mom?” Yuu muttered, nevertheless getting to work with a knife. “So what about my question?”

“Depends on the species,” he flipped what looked like an omelette in the pan deftly. As long as she was helping out, Ruggie was usually willing to answer her weird questions, especially if it was about Therianthropes. “Felines tend to display aggression and anger when they whip their tails back and forth fast. Slow means they’re focused on something.”

“Does this apply to Therianthropes?” she asked. “Or just animals?”

He shrugged. “I guess both? Never really thought about it. Canines tend to wag their tails when they’re in a good mood, though. Just like dogs.”

Yuu grinned to herself as she started on the second piece of toast.

Her good mood lasted all day as she wandered around the perimeter of Savanaclaw. Leopard showed up briefly before he changed shifts with an unfriendly Therianthrope with wide, round ears she couldn’t identify. Unlike Leopard, Round Ears was eager to verbally attack her. He was none too pleased about being forced to guard some runt when he could be loafing around or practicing for the Magift tournament.

Yuu offered him lunch past noon and was snorted at derisively, but halfway through her creation of toasted chicken sandwiches he slunk into the kitchen and stole one without saying anything.

She might have been irritated—but Round Ears had a short fluffy tail that twitched unbelievably cutely as he chewed. She forgave him and made an extra. Her appetite had exploded since she had begun her hostage life here in Savanaclaw.

The lounge did not produce Jack Howl this afternoon, which was unfortunate since she wanted to thank him and pass him a sandwich for being the least-evil person she’d met at this Night Raven College. Instead, Bear had brought a separate set of Therianthropes who caught her in the hallway and dragged her against the wall.

“We see you haven’t learned,” Bear looked down at her. One of his cronies, ears flared out like a lynx’s, tossed her against the wall roughly.

Yuu had never been strong, but with her constantly aching leg, her balance was completely shot. She collapsed against the wall and fell over with a stifled cry.

“I didn’t even throw him that hard,” Lynx mumbled, sounding bewildered.

His companion, small spotted ears reminiscent of a giraffe, bent over snorting with laughter. “This squirt,” he managed, “is just an idiot! He wanders around by himself without _protection!_ Man, it’s like he’s asking us to come hunt him down.”

Yuu dashed away painful tears and started to struggle to her feet. Giraffe easily knocked away her crutch and kicked at her good leg, sending her down again. “Weak,” all humour drained from his voice. “Hey…who said it was all right for you to stand up?”

This time, though Bear didn’t directly lay hands on her, Lynx and Giraffe knocked her back and forth between them with glancing blows. They were careful not to leave wounds on her face or revealed skin, and judging by the ease with which they moved, this amount of force was nothing more than a small power play for them.

It still hurt like hell.

Yuu bit her mouth to stifle her cries of pain. Back in her first year at Hogwarts, she’d learnt quickly how screaming excited those who bullied her, made them double the force behind their punches and shove her face into the ground, chanting _eat the soil! Eat it!_

This was better, at least, than being strung from the top of the Astronomy Tower for a full day and wondering if she would fall to her death any second.

Eventually the two of them seemed to get bored—Lynx still looked rather disbelieving at her small stature and the ease of which she was tossed around, but Giraffe’s snorts eventually faded into silence before he declared he was done.

“Jack’s not around to help you all the time, kid,” Bear had warned her before they turned to leave. “We’re being kind enough to show you the ins and outs of Savana. You should thank us.”

Yuu rubbed at her bruising arms, watching their backs recede down the hallway. “Boy am I glad I didn’t get sorted into Savanaclaw,” she muttered to herself. One of their kicks had glanced against her wand, tied to the inside of her arm with a holster thanks to the bagginess of Ruggie’s old shirt. Yuu made sure it hadn’t been damaged before she hobbled painfully over to her crutch, which had been scattered across the hallway carelessly.

If she wanted to put it in video game terms that one of the Heartslabyul students had started teaching her, Yuu’s HP was hovering in its low yellow range. Going right back into the lounge like this was like heading into the mid-boss battle without saving or healing. So instead, she slowly and painfully made her way back into the small room she had been given and reclined on the creaky single bed.

Even though she wasn’t a completely typical Ravenclaw, her thirst for knowledge, her curiosity, her love of learning still rivalled the worst contenders in her house. Consequently, Yuu only hated doing nothing. As she waited for the worst of the pain to recede from her limbs, she wondered why her _Episkey_ had been so ineffective last time when she’d used it on Trey.

Wait a second. Why hadn’t she tried healing herself yet?

Yuu thought (rather rudely) that Savanaclaw must be infecting her mind with its stupidity. She pulled out her wand, cast a Muggle-repelling Charm on the doorway (since she didn’t know any stronger ones) and pointed it at her ankle. _“Episkey!_ ”

Unlike the glow on Trey’s cast she’d seen last time, Yuu felt the sudden coldness usually accompanied by the Healing Charm steal over her ankle before some of the pain receded. In fact, Yuu thought that this cast had been one of her best ever; the swelling had receded a good amount from her ankle along with a temporary lull in its throbbing.

Why, then, hadn’t it worked on Trey?

Yuu pondered as she cast _Episkey_ over and over again on the forming bruises under the hand-me-downs she wore. Towards the end, she was flagging a little and the dark purple only faded to a mottled greenish yellow, but compared to how much it had hurt a while ago, Yuu was rather proud of how far her Healing Charms had come in a short month.

Just as she was wondering if she should push a little harder and try a more advanced healing spell on herself, noise outside drew her attention. Yuu stretched and stood. At the movement, a crushed chicken sandwich in its bag fell from her pocket.

Yuu looked at it and sighed. She’d wanted to give this to Jack…oh well. She’d make him something tomorrow and eat this herself.

The noise had come from the window. When Yuu poked her head out curiously, she caught sight of Leona standing in front of a crowd. Her window faced the great Mirror that passed through to the campus Hall of Mirrors. Thanks to her vantage point, she was granted a view of Savanaclaw’s beautiful sandy plains stretching out as far as the eye could see. Even the pseudo–Pride Rock looked comparatively unimpressive from this height as it faded into the distance.

Yuu cast a Charm Fred II had taught her on her ears to increase her hearing sensitivity. Far below, the crowd gathered around Leona were making some sort of racket that she wanted to hear clearly.

“…loud,” Leona was saying. He lifted one glove lazily over his mouth in a yawn.

“Come on, senpai!” one of the gathered beseeched. Yuu had never heard a Savanaclaw student emit such a deferential voice. It was such a departure from the unfriendly growling (literally) directed her way that she was getting whiplash.

“We’re all bouncing on our toes,” another said sheepishly. “Since the Magift tourney is coming up so soon. Obviously, all the preparations are in place, but it can’t hurt to practice.”

“But none of us can hold a candle to you,” another gushed. “Leona-san! We need you to show us how it’s really done.”

“You and Ruggie-senpai are the best players Savana has seen in recent history.”

“Yeah, last time you wiped those Heartslabyul intruders into the dirt, we were all watching, you know!”

Someone fanned himself. “That dive was _scary_ good.”

“Just think of it as you lowering yourself to play with the newbies a bit,” one cajoled. “Please?”

Leona cast a glance around him with what she thought was amusement. “You’re all hopeless,” he joked acerbically.

“That’s right! We’re hopeless without you, Leona-san!”

“Senpai, please guide us!”

“I just wanna play on the same team as you again!”

“Leona-san!”

“It’s just not fun without you!”

“We want you at the lead!”

“ _Ahhh_ , shut up already!” Leona pressed a hand to his forehead in apparent annoyance. “I’m busy until after dark, so ask Ruggie then. If he decides we can go to Savana’s pitch, we’ll play one round and one round only. Got it?”

A great cheer rose up from the crowd so that Yuu winced and cancelled her Charm right away to prevent her ears from being damaged. She ducked back in from the window. Leona’s face had been too far away for her to see, but all the same she heard the reluctant amusement in his voice she’d in a way he’d never used in front of her or Ruggie.

It was rare to see a positive relationship formed in this school—she only knew of Riddle’s and Trey’s friendship as the shining example that had prevented the former from collapsing these past seventeen years. Yet there was that same mutual care displayed as the students crowded around Leona, bright smiles on their faces, expressing their simple joy in speaking with him. He was appreciated without restraint in this dormitory, and no matter how much he feigned disinterest, Yuu watched the slow swishing of his tail and knew that he was not so unaffected as he seemed.

Yuu sat aimlessly on her bed. In times like these, she wanted to seek an outside opinion, to ask someone about Leona’s personality—but it was useless to think about, now that she had no one to talk to.

She couldn’t ask Ace or Deuce because they weren’t around.

Once her mind started spiralling that way, she could not get it to return. For two days, she’d put away any thought of Ace, Deuce, and Grim who was always with her. Thinking about them was not going to help her get out of here no matter how much she…

Yuu felt her chest in surprise as it squeezed painfully. Had she eaten something strange—had she been punched in the chest earlier? Why was it so painful?

—Now was not the time to be wondering if she had heartburn. She wrenched her mind back to the problem at hand. Even if she didn’t have Ace’s quick comprehension or Deuce’s easy acceptance of others, there was a lot about Leona Kingscholar that visibly contradicted itself. He was lazy enough to repeat two years of school, yet tremendously intelligent. Was passionate enough about Magift to thin out his competition by any means, yet his dorm mates had to cajole him to join them for one game.

He provided for her needs thoroughly despite taking her hostage. Refused to apologise for indirectly spraining her ankle but gave her balm and bandages and told her it was a crime to hurt women.

Acted so unfriendly, yet was regarded with respect, fear and adoration by Savanaclaw’s students.

Yuu clutched her head. What on earth was with this person? And just what was it that made this band of rough-mannered, strong Therianthropes…made someone as cold and practical as Ruggie follow him without question?

“This guy’s even more troublesome than Rosehearts-senpai,” Yuu grumbled to herself and shoved her head under a pillow.

—

Thanks to Yuu remembering that she was a witch, she woke up the next day with minimal pain in her swollen ankle and an easily ignorable lingering ache at the bruises she’d suffered. Not unusually for her, Yuu had overslept; a tray for breakfast was laid on her desk and the compound was silent. Years of burning the midnight oil in the Hogwarts Library made her weak in the mornings, but she chastised herself for being so lax in enemy territory.

Deuce had once told her, with reluctant fondness in his voice, that she had the highest situational adaptability of anyone he’d ever seen. Yuu still didn’t understand what he meant, but by her fourth day in Savanaclaw she felt quite comfortable with her surroundings and had no trouble with the infinite walkway.

Leopard and Round Ears, who were once again her guards for the day, had taken to calling her ‘Yuu-chan’ in a mockery of Cater’s friendly moniker. They probably thought the nickname derogatory and snide; when they saw that she couldn’t care less what they called her, seemed to double down on the nickname as if throwing three sheets to the wind. Yuu decided against telling them that she could only tell them apart by their ears. It wasn’t like they were friendly enough to exchange full names.

Yuu asked them about Savanaclaw as she grilled hamburger patties for lunch. When faced with food, both of them mellowed out a great deal and willingly exchanged information with her in return for adding extra sauce, no onions, on their respective meals.

Most of the people from her world were familiar with Dixney’s movie The King of Lions, which had recently received a live-action remaster. Yuu herself had been exposed to the original animated version back in the day camp held for children in need in her community. She was more or less familiar with the cruelly ambitious Sxar, whose indomitable nature was the basis for Savanaclaw’s existence.

Still, there was much to learn about this place. To Yuu’s surprise, there was a full-sized Magift pitch dug out right past where Yuu had thought the Pride Rock-lookalike was raised. Leopard pulled out his phone to show her an aerial view of the dorm map and both he and Round Ears burst out into snickers as Yuu gaped at the size of it. What she had thought was a large outcropping of rock was the edge of a gigantic cliff marking the entrance of the Magift pitch; a long set of winding stairs carved into the wood spiralled up to the stadium that had enough spectator seats to challenge Hogwarts’ Quidditch Pitch easily.

So this was where Leona and his team had played last night. They’d come back dangerously close to lights out, laughing and smeared with dirt and sweat, Leona gathered firmly in the centre of the crowd, the attention, the adoration.

“There is a coliseum for official matches, like the tourney in a couple weeks,” Leopard explained through a mouthful of medium-rare meat. “But I’m pretty fond of our pitch too. It’s got character.”

Yuu scrolled over to view Savanaclaw from a bird’s eye view. “Your dorm is _huge._ It’s a bloody castle. But how do you deal with wind and rain when you’ve got no windows?”

“Yuu-chan,” Round Ears shook his head in pity, “just because _you_ can’t use magic doesn’t mean everyone else can’t. There are proper enchantments in place to repel the elements.”

Right. No matter how much Yuu had grown up without magic, she shouldn’t get wrapped up in her act of ‘behaving as a muggle’ and actually start thinking like one. Of course there would be spells for this sort of thing.

—

Leopard and Round Ears were content to taunt her by calling her undignified nicknames and laughing at her lack of magical knowledge, but their teasing was harmless. Unfortunately, the other Savanaclaw residents were not so benign.

The amalgamation of bruises she’d suffered yesterday could not stop her from entering Savanaclaw’s lounge, but it did give her a measure of caution. Still, some of the early returners from classes had planned out their encounter with her, so early afternoon found her, once again, crutch-less, the polished wood stick sunk down at the bottom of the river pool.

Today’s perpetrators weren’t as calm or intelligent-looking as Bear and his cronies had been—Yuu wondered if those long ears were that of an aardvark, but the aggressive, stockily built student on his other side didn’t give her a chance to guess.

Yuu glanced around from her undignified sprawl by the walkway near the river pool. Apart from the two of them, over twenty students had gathered behind to watch. A distance away, Yuu spotted Leopard and Round Ears sitting on lounge chairs, determinedly not looking in her direction, and the slow trickle-in of students coming back from classes.

Aardvark (temporary name) and his friend, whose ears resembled a warthog’s, stared coldly down at her. “You know, we’re really getting sick of seeing your face around here,” Warthog snarled. “Even though other kids were nice enough to teach you a lesson, you still refuse to learn, huh?”

Aardvark sneered. “As expected of some lowbrow brat who can’t even use magic!”

Yuu decided against telling him that Riddle’s insults outmatched his by a few orders of magnitude. She remained silent.

“What, are you mute or something?” Aardvark got in her face, fisting a hand in her uniform collar. “Can’t even be bothered to listen to me, is that right?”

“Let me,” Warthog seized the back of her neck roughly. “I’ll show this paper-thin kid what it means to piss off someone from Savanaclaw.”

Yuu saw the sinister light enter his eyes with a rush of familiarity and managed to suck in a breath before he bodily dragged her over to the pool and shoved her head under. Aardvark obligingly folded her hands behind her back and held them painfully against each other to prevent movement.

The plunge of cold water was a shock against her skin; Warthog’s meaty hand dug into her scalp painfully as Yuu thrashed gamely against her two captors. Screwing her eyes shut, she let him shake her head back and forth and waited for the torture to end.

Forty-nine counts later he dragged her head back out to a cacophony of noise. Yuu coughed and spluttered and sucked in air. Dimly, she heard Warthog shout something about her deserving this and not to get in his way before she went back down.

Her fourth year at Hogwarts, right before her study abroad session at Mahoutokoro was decided, had been full of similar incidents. (Mahoutokoro’s students preferred the more subtle methods of sticking razors into her indoor shoes and textbooks.) The Great Lake was a far sight worse than the clean, freshwater pool Savanaclaw boasted in its lounge, but Yuu had refrained from taking baths for a while after she had nearly drowned for the third time. She wasn’t fond of being held underwater as she fought for air.

Now, all those experiences rushed back.

Better not to struggle to conserve oxygen. Yuu suppressed her survival instincts and went limp.

Still, air was growing short—no—there was no air, none at all, and she was probably going to die in this place as water flooded her lungs. Yuu thought hazily that she’d wanted to die past the glass dome of Octavinelle, wondered if they would really find out she was a girl after fishing her body from this pool—

The pressure around her hair disappeared.

Yuu had nearly slipped out of consciousness, but the will of a dying person to _live_ was stronger than her fatigue. With a great rush of strength, she broke free of whatever had been holding her hands captive and yanked her head from the water, heaving and retching. Yuu collapsed on the walkway and coughed the sting from her nose. Water formed a small puddle around her head, but she was too tired to lift it up.

She was alive.

Before Yuu could get much more in her pounding head than this simple fact and wrench her smarting eyes open, Aardvark flew across her vision and into the pool with a resounding _splash!_

What the—!?

Yuu pushed herself laboriously upright, still trying to catch her breath. Her ankle throbbed painfully—she’d probably done something bad to it in her fruitless struggling. She was just in time to see Ruggie Bucchi in his school uniform deliver a sound uppercut to Warthog’s stomach, sending him stumbling backwards with a cry.

With astonishing alacrity, Ruggie planted both palms on the ground, swung his feet up into the air in a roundhouse and showed off a complacent smile, his grey-blue eyes cold with the light from the lounge. “Gotcha, fool!”

Warthog spluttered. The two feet drove home into his stomach with unbelievable strength—the Therianthrope soared into the air, skidded on the walkway, and fell over into the pond to follow his compatriot clumsily.

A smattering of whistles and applause rose up from the onlookers.

“All right, all right, you pack of spectators,” Ruggie rose to his feet gracefully, clapping the dust from his hands. “Show’s over today. If you don’t wanna all be held responsible for disobeying Leona-san’s direct order _not_ to harm the hostage in any way, you can stay here, but I’ve remembered all your faces. _Shi shi shi_!”

His laugh held no humour in it at all. The rest of the Therianthropes were more aware of this than she was—in less than a minute, the previously rowdy lounge was empty, and Warthog and Aardvark were being fished out by several students who lambasted them angrily as they walked away.

Leona’s name alone was enough to scare the living daylights out of these people, Yuu realized, pushing her sopping bangs out of her face with a wet cough. Maybe she should try it next time.

She was still alive.

“A~ah.” Ruggie sunk into a crouch, his signature mocking grin firmly fixed on his face as he peered into hers. “Still breathing, kid? You must’ve really pissed ‘em off. even initiation for new Savana students doesn’t get this bad, usually.”

Yuu cleared her throat with difficulty. “Fine,” she shrugged, “thanks for helping me out, senpai.”

“You are sort of under my responsibility,” Ruggie sighed. He met her gaze for a few moments, studying her closely. “…Now that I can see your entire face, I can’t believe they didn’t sort you into Pomefiore, Yuu-kun. I’ve never seen eyes that shade of blue before.”

Yuu blinked back curiously, water falling from her lashes. “Really? Grim says they’re the same colour as his fire. And senpai, your eyes are much prettier than mine.”

“That doesn’t make me happy at all,” Ruggie told her dryly, rolling them. “It’s not like I can make money off pretty eyes. What happened to your crutch?”

Yuu pointed at the river.

“Okay, hold on a sec.”

Ruggie moved as quick and deft as usual as he fished out her crutch, dried it with a slash of his Pen, and summoned a huge towel which he dropped on her head. Before Yuu could remove it, she left the ground. It took her a few seconds to realize he’d lifted her into his arms again—against her wet shirt, his surprisingly large hands were warm and strong.

Yuu wiped her face and her damp shirt, glad that she hadn’t gotten her clothing overly wet. In terms of having her head held underwater, this wasn’t as bad as the situation could have gotten.

Ruggie eyed her as she folded the damp towel, hopping lightly onto the beginnings of the infinite walkway. “…You don’t seem very shaken.”

Yuu blinked up at him. “Shaken?” she repeated, confused.

“Surprised. Scared. Negatively affected,” he clarified. “I mean, I’ve never seen you look really emotional, even after I sent you down the stairs. But usually the reactions of the Savana newbies who get dunked are more…wait…”

“More…” she prompted at his silence. Ruggie was sniffing the air around her head in confusion.

“You smell…Nah. Couldn’t be…” After a moment he sighed, shook his head and resumed movement. “Never mind. Anyway, Leona-san told me not to let you die, so stop making my job harder by attracting the stupid ones.”

“Is that why you behaved violently towards your own dorm mates?” Yuu asked him curiously.

Ruggie arrived at the door to her temporary room and ducked beneath the curtain. “ _That_?” he snorted. “Savana’s not some posh little garden like Heartslabyul, kid. No one comes here without being prepared to get knocked around a bit.”

“Different House—er, Dorms sure have different rules,” she remarked as he set her on her bed.

Instead of leaving, Ruggie planted his butt at her bedside and squinted at her. “Is there something wrong with you?” he blurted out. “You’re so…calm and collected. I’ve never seen you lose your cool, ever. What, you really don’t think this situation is dangerous for you?”

“This situation?”

He waved a hand. “A little kid lost in a den of beasts. Unprotected with magic and physically fragile. Provoking idiots who’ll try and smack you around. Take your pick.”

There was something approaching concern in his gaze and an unexpected cutting sharpness to his voice. Ruggie looked frustrated, almost angry.

His expression was probably her fault. He had, after all, beaten up two of his fellow dorm-mates because of her. She wasn’t aware of what the pecking order was in Savanaclaw (except, of course, Leona being up high) so she couldn’t know how this affected his own standing. But it obviously wasn’t positive.

Yuu was used to people becoming angry at her, anyway.

She straightened up to explain. “You’re right, senpai. There’s probably something wrong with me.”

Whatever he’d been expecting her to reply with, that had apparently not been it. Ruggie blinked owlishly at her, his round eyes ridiculously cute for a seventeen-year-old boy.

“I’ve been told that I probably don’t have the same perception of emotions as other people,” Yuu elaborated. “Neither can I empathise with others. Usually it doesn’t take this long for someone to ask me this question, so I didn’t mention it before because I didn’t think anyone cared here. But people call me creepy a lot. Did it put you off?”

“Lack of emotion,” Ruggie repeated slowly, gaze boring into her face. “…Who told you that?”

“Lots of people? I lost count.”

“What kind of place did you—” Ruggie bit off his sentence, a light of realization entering his eyes. “…Yuu-kun. I finally figured out why you piss me off sometimes.”

“Everyone says that too,” she said with a grin. “Well, I guess I should apologise for whatever I did—”

“No. That’s not it.” He cut her off with a shake of his head. “…You just…remind me of the cackle back where I come from.”

“The cackle?”

“The horde. The group back where I…” Ruggie scratched at his ears and let out a frustrated sigh. “You know…I usually don’t talk about myself.”

“I noticed,” Yuu nodded. “And you don’t ask about others, either. I like that part about you.”

“It’s nothing as _considerate_ as that—I just don’t have the resources to be curious about lives when I’m already struggling as hard as I can to keep mine.” Ruggie paused, made a face. “Again. It’s too easy to talk to you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You’re interested in what I’m saying, aren’t you?”

Yuu blinked. “Of course I am. I told you I respect you.”

“But,” Ruggie gave her a piercing look, “that’s it. You’re not after information to use it—you’re not trying to show off false pity to satisfy yourself, not sucking up to improve your reputation. I’d thought you might have been after connections when you started hanging around Leona-san, but you don’t even know who he _is_.”

“Who he is?” Yuu repeated curiously.

He shook it off impatiently and swung his feet onto the blanket to face her cross-legged, unmindful of his beige canvas trainers pressing against the comforter. “My point is, you’re impartial and that’s far easier to trust than some disgusting fake kindness I see everywhere. You make it easy to talk…for me, anyway. Which I don’t like.”

Yuu scooted up to him, peered into his face. She read the dark circles under his eyes, the crease between his brow, the sharp protrusion of his jawline. “You’re probably stressed out and tired,” she concluded. “So you’re looking for someone to unload on, right? I owe you for rescuing me just now, Ruggie-senpai, so I can be a listening ear.”

Ruggie’s large triangular ears folded against his head—momentarily, she saw his face, up close, contort with exhaustion and frustration. “…Beast tamer, indeed.”

Yuu couldn’t hear his mumble. “What?”

“It’s not just stress. Yuu-kun, you remind me of the kids back home.” Ruggie scratched absently at his dirty blond hair. “Leona-san’s told you he’s from the Afterglow Savannah, right? I’m from the same country, born and raised in the slums.”

According to Ruggie, Yuu reminded him painfully of some of the children abandoned in the slums he’d lived in. Her father and mother were both working adults and made a decent wage, so she couldn’t imagine what it was like to have to fight over one’s next meal or watch as a neighbour collapsed out of hunger in the caved-in wall of their temporary shelter.

Yuu still had been forced to learn all manner of skills—cooking, cleaning herself, the bare necessities to survive—and she nodded emphatically when Ruggie told her the only way to survive alone was to figure it all out faster than the world could get to him. He told he there was something in her easy acceptance of the bullying that reminded him of himself. Of others in his situation.

“We’re all desperate there,” he shrugged in his oversized blazer. Yuu saw how it drooped off his scrawny shoulders and arms, remembered how the bones on his wrists had stood out in sharp relief against those large, calloused hands.

“But?” she prompted.

Ruggie grimaced at her. “But there are always the realistic…the smartest ones. They know the shape of this world, understand the hopelessness of their situation and the dirtiness of politics. Those are the people—the kids that have the same look in your eyes.”

Yuu blinked as the topic swung back to her. “Me?”

“Told you, you remind me of the kids who’ve given up already even more than us struggling ones,” Ruggie searched her face and nodded, like he’d found it again. “Not that they didn’t feel anything…one told me before he died that it just didn’t matter. That his feelings were irrelevant and illogical here. …He gave the last of his food to Grandma before going to sleep forever.”

“There were a lot of people like him,” Yuu said quietly. “Right?”

“Right. You’re quick with your brain, Yuu-kun, and you’ve survived this long in a school full of people who hate you. That’s not an easy feat—hell, my first month I pulled more all-nighters studying than I remember.” A wry smile pulled at his mouth as he reminisced. “I was desperate to _live_ …But you’ve got that…all-accepting look of defeat on your face. Like you don’t even care whether you live or die. If you keep acting like that, one day you’re going to be the one who falls asleep forever.”

Yuu thought about it. Did she care whether she lived or died?

“So you say stuff about missing emotions or whatever, but I doubt it,” Ruggie told her more surely than she’d expected. “It’s probably just that you’ve been living in hell up ‘til you came here. You don’t know anything apart from it.”

“From what you’ve said,” Yuu regarded him measuredly, “Ruggie-senpai, you’ve probably seen more hell than I can even imagine.”

“That’s true too. Still, there are all sorts of personal hells now, aren’t there?” he showed her a white slash of teeth. “None of us are trapped back in there anymore. You get free lodging from the Headmaster. I get paid by Leona-san to do his chores—and guarantee myself a pretty lofty spot in this dorm with it. I don’t know what’s going on in your head, but you should fix that mental problem quick before it kills you.”

“Oh,” Yuu emitted in surprise. “Um, okay. Thanks.”

“Weird kid,” Ruggie snorted, a reluctant smile stealing over his youthful features. “I really don’t see what Leona-san sees in you.”

“Probably nothing.” Yuu thought that if she were male, the lion Therianthrope might have really bitten her by now.

Ruggie snorted loudly. “You call that _nothing_? I’ve never seen him act so…unlike himself.”

“It’s not like I’d know what he’s like,” Yuu grinned back. “Unless you want to tell me, senpai.”

A brief silence fell over the room. Outside, the laughs and shouts of students provided a backdrop to Savanaclaw’s idyllic autumn weather. Just when she was about to give up, Ruggie blinked slowly, as if he’d finally found his words.

“…Leona-san’s just…” He glanced out the window. The afternoon sun caught his grey irises and set them alight as he mumbled absently, “Leona-san’s different. He’s nothing like the rest of those fools playing with power.”

“Power?”

“That cunning—that unshakable will is what’s going to flip this world upside down one day.” Ruggie’s lowered voice sounded like he was making an oath. “And you can bet that I’m going to be there to watch it happen.”

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
>  **Edited |** December 31st, 2020 for grammar, spelling, and minor details. Also, the reader has completed Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone PLUS Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in terms of word count some point through this chapter! 🎉
> 
> —
> 
> **Definitions |**
> 
> _fairy (妖精, yousei)_ | the term used to describe Malleus and Lilia's (etc.) race. To be honest, I’m not sure the translation is accurate—this word can mean ‘elf’, ‘sprite’, some kind of otherworldly being that doesn’t necessarily have the connotations of ‘fairy’ in the English language. Basically, it’s a ‘magical existence that far surpasses humanity’.
> 
>  _dashiki_ | the type of shirt that is part of Savanaclaw’s Dorm uniform. Worn mostly in West Africa; also called _kitenge_ (East Africa) and _java_ (Indonesia) and means ‘shirt’ or ‘inner garment’.
> 
>  _-tachi [post-suffix] (達)_ | a normally polite way to refer to a ‘group’ of people, placed after a suffix (i.e. senpai-tachi, watashi-tachi, omae-tachi). Contrast the impolite ‘ra’ (等), similar ‘tomo’ (共) and much more polite ‘gata/kata’ (方). Jack, despite being described as a hoodlum on the official site, still holds authority relationships important and refers to his upperclassmen with respect.
> 
> —
> 
> Has Leona noticed that Yuu is undergoing some…less-than-stellar treatment within his dorm? Some things to consider:
> 
>   * He’s busy with his own plans (and cannot be completely mentally complacent enough to pay her too much attention [incoming Overblot]).
>   * He respects the “opinion” and “power” of women (lionesses are the ones usually doing the hunting in a pride). Hurting women isn’t okay, but if Yuu isn’t coming to him for help, him stepping in is an insult to her (in his opinion).
>   * He’s not that close with her. If Yuu is stupid enough to be getting herself in trouble, it’s none of his business—he is, after all, a ‘villain’.
>   * Ruggie’s the person who carries out most of his ‘orders’. Who knows what he’s up to in the background? (Sleeping? 🤣)
> 

> 
> —
> 
> This time, there will be a two-week break instead of one before the next update. School is ramping up pre-final exams, and to be honest, I am so distracted with the onslaught of new game releases that I won’t be able to guarantee a halfway decent (?) chapter otherwise. Sorry the authour is a hopeless video game addict…! 🙇🏻💦
> 
> In other words, the next update will be on November 27th, after American Thanksgiving. (We’re past 40,400/50,000 for NaNoWriMo!)
> 
> Thank you for reading, clicking the 'kudos' button, subscribing, and commenting. You spoil me! Please spoil me more by commenting again below! 💕
> 
> —


	11. Waiting to be King.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the Magift tournament draws closer, Yuu has her hands full with Savanaclaw’s inhabitants…and its leader.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
>  **🦃 Happy American Thanksgiving! 🦃** (And a very belated Canadian Thanksgiving, which was the day after Jack’s birthday this year!) This year I’m unbelievably thankful for you guys being the best readers ever and for spoiling me to death by commenting, reading, and enjoying my very first story. Thank you very much! 🙇🏻 
> 
> (Also, Microsoft Word’s complete Dark Mode finally got released…Thank you for reducing strain on my eyes!!!)
> 
> There have been some very good questions in the comments, so I am going to summarize some information here for everyone’s easy perusal:
> 
>   * Apart from the Events story I said I was going to write next year (when/after I finish Episode 3), people really want to know how Heartslabyul/Scarabia/Grim are reacting to Yuu’s kidnapping! Since this story is ‘third-person limited’ from her perspective, to accommodate this, a **second short collection** of different characters’ points of view is probably coming out in January? February? of next year.
>   * Because of the above, it might be convenient for readers to subscribe to my user…? (Not quite sure how it works) So that you get a notification once I post another story.
>   * Why did Yuu go through so much stuff at Hogwarts? And what on earth happened to her before then?? Good questions! The answer will take 123456789 words before we get to it, but hopefully you will sort of find out more about her in a couple of chapters. Actually, there are some hints in the earlier chapters already—I bet you intelligent readers can guess at some of them!
> 

> 
> —

—

When Savanaclaw’s early returners arrived at its lounge after school Thursday, Yuu was shamelessly bartering with Leopard and Round Ears for tutoring in Magical Analysis.

“Caviar,” Round Ears repeated, “or no deal.”

“I told you I’ve never made something as stupidly fancy as that,” Yuu shot back, “Two cuts of sirloin steak seasoned just how you like it.”

“Deal,” Leopard leaned back in satisfaction. “When do we start, Yuu-chan?”

“No deal!” Round Ears snapped. “I don’t even like beef! Caviar or nothing, kid.”

Yuu raised her eyebrows at him. “Senpai here seems a lot smarter than you so I don’t mind if you back out.”

“Yuu-chan,” Round Ears cracked his knuckles, “you want me to teach you a lesson even worse than those two nitwits did yesterday?”

“This is where you’re supposed to apologize for not being able to stop the two perpetrators, as his guard,” Leopard muttered, looking a little guilty.

“Violence is bad,” Yuu chanted. “Peace is good.”

“Oi, oi, oi,” a large hand slung over Round Ears’ shoulders. Yuu jumped in her seat—she hadn’t sensed the new arrivals at all. “What are you morons having fun with while we were off studying?”

“It’s the Yuu-chan we’ve heard so much about!” someone squeezed in beside her on the couch. His companion boxed her in on her other side while Round Ears, grumbling, budged aside for the first arrival to take a seat.

To her surprise, the one on her left was Lynx, though she didn’t recognize the other two students. All of them had dark skin. All of them wore Savanaclaw’s biker jacket over various _dashiki_ tunics cut into a V at the collarbone. All of them were grinning at her too widely.

Yuu blinked at them. “Are you here to bully me?” she asked curiously.

“By the Greats,” swore the one sitting by Round Ears. His furred, fox-like ears resembled those of a jackal. “This kid really is exactly how your giraffe friend described him!”

On her right, a tanned student whose ears spread outwards like an antelope fought back a snort. “‘Are you here to bully me’,” he mimicked in a squeak, fighting for an expressionless face.

All five of them roared with laughter.

“We just wanted to see the new kid who managed to get Ruggie Bucchi to fight on his behalf,” Jackal wiped tears from his eyes as Yuu squinted uncomprehendingly at them. “Plus, I heard you lasted _two_ dunks from that third-year shithead. Kinda impressive for a lily-pale runt like you!”

Yuu nearly flew across the table as he slapped her between the shoulder blades. This sent them into another round of laughter.

“You know, Ruggie-senpai just helped me because he had orders,” Yuu rubbed at her back ruefully. “I’m a hostage here for a reason.”

“Yeah, we know,” Lynx grinned. “So what were you guys talking about? Steak?”

“Yuu-chan here was offering to make me a couple slabs in return for some tutoring on magical theory,” Leopard shrugged. “It’s been too long since I had good steak, and this kid can cook.”

“What!? You’ve been eating _steak_ while we were off slaving our asses off in Trein’s nightmare classes?” Antelope stuck his middle finger up at Leopard with a playful glare. “Getting assigned guard duty must be nice, slacker.”

“Hey man.” Leopard put both hands up, though he couldn’t hide his grin. “I’m cutting classes on purpose. Last year I skipped nearly half the time and still managed to pass, so this year I’m gonna see how far I can go.”

“If you repeat, your parents are gonna kill you,” muttered Round Ears.

“Says loafer number two.”

“I’m here because Leona-senpai said,” he glared at them all. “That’s enough for you, isn’t it?”

“So can you tell me about the principle of the Nothing element again?” Yuu cut in impatiently as Round Ears and Lynx glared at each other. “Before I got kidnapped here we were studying it in Analysis and I lost track of my brain halfway through that class.”

“Hell no,” Antelope made a face, “not one of _those_ types.”

“The only class I’d be able to tutor is strength building,” Jackal agreed.

“What are you talking about? Analysis is pretty easy compared to Animal Languages.”

“The _easiest_ subject is Animal Languages!”

“Yuu-chan, you think so too, right?”

“Nah, this kid probably can’t even understand Lucius. He looks like he’d only be good at History.”

“Maybe I mistook my target,” Yuu glanced around the bickering group, unimpressed. “Should I ask someone else to tutor me?”

“Like hell you are,” Leopard cried, “I’m getting my steak if it means I have to drag you to the kitchen myself!”

—

**CHAPTER ELEVEN | Waiting to be King.**

—

Yuu’s abused crutch met its demise Thursday night as the chill winds gusted mightily across Savanaclaw’s entranceway.

The interior of the dormitory building glowed with firelight and the activity of students jogging in and out, some carrying brooms, others piggybacking a friend. Against the outside wall that faced the pale waning gibbous, though, she felt none of it, only Aardvark’s cold, cold stare as he ripped her walking stick from her fingers and bent it over his knee with a sickening _snap_!

She watched the two halves fall to the dirt ground and wondered absently if Ruggie would be angry. Remembered Jack telling her gruffly not to lose it again.

Behind Aardvark were several strangers as well as Jackal and Bear. The students she didn’t know wore unpleasant grins, but Jackal had his arms crossed grimly and Bear was watching on with a complicated frown. “Hey,” he said gruffly, “the initiation requirements have been more than satisfied already. That should be enough harassing the kid.”

Aardvark barked out a laugh. “Enough?” he repeated. “This little kid. _Humiliated_ me! Do you know what I went through yesterday? That hyena spilled the beans and Leona-san kicked the _shit_ out of both of us.”

“…That’s why I don’t see his partner,” one of the strangers muttered.

“Must be still out cold,” another muttered.

“Leona-senpai’s wicked strong.”

“You know taking it out on Yuu-chan won’t do anything but make it worse for you,” Jackal warned Aardvark, his mouth pulled into a tight line. After their afternoon conversation, the name had stuck among their group of five.

“I don’t care,” Aardvark’s voice softened. He took one step forward, lowering his head to meet her gaze. “I’m in a bad mood today, you know. As an underclassman, you should accompany me on a bit of a diversion…shouldn’t you? _Yuu-chan._ ”

He was wearing the same expression as the Gryffindor who had strung her from the top of Astronomy Tower during her third year. Pupils dilated wildly and an unnatural smile—this Therianthrope had completely lost his rationality. Yesterday Aardvark had left the dirty work to Warthog, but now she knew it wasn’t because he was reluctant to lift a hand against her.

Not with this much tangible bloodlust thickening the air.

Jackal and Bear would not stop him. Yuu had closely observed the pack dynamic Savanaclaw operated on these past several days. Apart from Jack Howl, who was a warily skirted outcast, and Ruggie Bucchi, who had the absolute position of Leona’s aide, Savanaclaw banded together instinctively. There was still the elusive Savanaclaw Dorm Head whom she hadn’t met, but Yuu was sure that he would not stop Aardvark from punching her lights out, either. After all, siding with _her_ meant a betrayal of their pack—which was almost as low as hurting a woman in this world.

It was up to her to defend herself, alone.

Yuu resolved to start taking physical education seriously after this as the first punch burst into her stomach and knocked her shoulder painfully against the wall. She wandlessly cast a weak Shield charm over herself and blocked the second hit with her crossed arms; Aardvark did not take her cheek well and aimed a sweep sideways, cutting into her side. Yuu’s recovering ankle gave out and sent her crashing onto the ground.

Aardvark kicked it ruthlessly; she cried out lowly in pain. “Get up.”

Yuu obediently struggled to her feet.

The next punch landed cleanly on her jaw. She saw stars. Someone pulled Aardvark backwards—“Why would you aim where Leona-senpai can _see?!_ ” he was hissing—but he broke free and drove a heavy fist into her collar.

Another heavy blow she managed to block with her arm. Her Shield charm silently shattered, but Aardvark was too far gone to notice the small flash of light as he knocked her back against the wall again. Yuu didn’t have the energy to cast another one. Instead she fought to stay conscious as blows rained down on her.

“…Stop,” she heard urgently, “You’re overdoing it, you idiot.”

“Yuu-chan won’t tell,” Aardvark panted. The cold night had been chased away by the throbbing all over her body. “Right?”

Yuu, who was curled up in a foetal position, made the judgment to struggle to her knees again. “…Feel better?” she managed.

Bear sucked in a breath.

“Feel better? _Feel better!?_ Like hell I feel better!” Aardvark seized her collar and dangled her from the ground, shaking back and forth roughly. His mouth was drawn back in a furious snarl. “Thanks to you I had to apologize to Leona-san! Thanks to you, his opinion of me has sunk to zero! You knew, didn’t you!?”

“…Isn’t that your fault?” Lynx muttered. No one answered him.

Yuu swallowed a mouthful of iron—she’d bitten her cheek accidentally during a punch—and managed thickly, “You all really love Leona-senpai.”

“Damn straight we do,” Aardvark seemed to regain a measure of calm. He pushed her against the wall bordering Savanaclaw’s castle dorm, shoving his face into hers until they nearly bumped noses. “You’re just a magicless piece of trash so you don’t know, but Leona-san is not an existence you can just use like you’ve been doing. Walking around like you own the place just because he said not to harm the hostage…You don’t deserve his time of day.”

“And _you_ pissed him off by disobeying him,” Yuu croaked out. “Shouldn’t you be ashamed of yourself?”

Someone hissed.

Jackal smothered a laugh. “Yuu-chan, just shut up,” he called over.

Aardvark chuckled pleasantly. “By now my reputation here’s rock bottom anyway,” he told her, “so I figured I might as well live the way I want. Plus, a damaged hostage is more _realistic_ to show off in front of those Heartslabyul ponces, isn’t it?”

“But you might cause trouble for Leona-senpai by doing this.” Yuu gave him an unimpressed stare. “What are you even doing? Digging your own grave?”

“…You cheeky brat,” Aardvark breathed, “you’re really asking for it. Stop throwing his name around like you’re a Savana kid. Just because you passed initiation doesn’t mean you’re one of us.”

“I’m not throwing his name around,” Yuu blinked. “What’s initi—”

“Shut _up!_ Shut up already!” he punched her round the jaw again. “Don’t mention Leona-san by name ever again! From now on you can only call him Dorm Head and nothing else! Got it!?”

Yuu spat out blood to the side and organized her pain-filled mind. “Wait, wait,” she reached out to slap at his arms urgently, ignoring the trail of red dripping down her chin. “What did you just say?”

“Are you hard of hearing? I said _don’t ever_ —”

“Leona-senpai’s Savanaclaw’s Dorm Head?” Yuu gaped at him.

Aardvark gaped back unattractively, losing all momentum. “…Huh?”

Yuu noted absently that when his face was not screwed up in anger, he looked almost as young as Ruggie.

A moment of silence weighed down the breezy night air. Bear and Jackal took the opportunity to seize Aardvark by his shoulders and pull him away from her. Released, Yuu collapsed onto her knees painfully before tipping over.

One Savanaclaw student approached her and, surprisingly, supported her against the wall. “Can’t believe you’re still conscious,” he told her with a wry grin.

Yuu answered it. “If there’s one thing I’m used to, it’s resisting pain,” she mumbled back.

Aardvark didn’t fight Bear or Jackal this time; instead, he was gaping at her. “Hold on…hold on a second.”

“You idiot,” Bear growled, “the most basic rule is _not_ to injure their face! You’re going to get us all killed.”

“No, wait.”

“That’s enough already,” Jackal shook his head. “Even if you’re pissed, find a better way to expel it. That doesn’t piss off Leona-san further. You know he’s got plans for the kid.”

“Yuu-chan…” Aardvark ignored them and called out to her. Yuu blinked back as he strung together, “…You didn’t know Leona-san was the Dorm Head until now!?”

Everyone turned their stare onto her. Yuu nodded honestly. “Um, yeah,” she said sheepishly, feeling stupid, “No one told me.”

“You’ve got to be fricking _kidding_ me,” someone mumbled.

The student beside her made a funny spluttering noise.

“Shit,” Aardvark said eloquently, his face paling a shade under the moonlight.

Bear put his head in a hand; Jackal pointed between them and squinted. “Wait a sec. You beat him half to death because you were pissed he wasn’t treating Leona-san with the respect he deserves.”

“Shut it,” moaned Aardvark.

“But it turns out he didn’t even know who Leona-san was because they kept the information from him on purpose,” Jackal continued mercilessly. “So you beat up an innocent little kid for no reason _and_ you left a mark on his face.”

“I said shut it,” Aardvark swung moodily at him. Jackal dodged neatly, snickering.

Yuu struggled to her feet, ignoring the hovering Savanaclaw student by her side. “Um, so do you feel better now?”

“Yuu-chan,” Bear said dryly, “I think he hasn’t felt this bad in a long time.”

“Okay.” Yuu hopped painfully over to where Aardvark was gathered with the crowd of watching students. While she wasn’t looking, the number of onlookers had swelled, but she couldn’t be bothered right now. Everything hurt and she felt a bit dizzy from the pain.

Aardvark looked at her warily, but there was defeat in his eyes. “Go ahead,” he spat, “tell on me. It doesn’t—”

Yuu drew her fist back and punched him in the stomach.

He wasn’t as muscled as Leona—Aardvark’s sentence cut off with a whoosh of air before he was gaping at her once again. Silence filled the area behind Savanaclaw’s dorm as the wind picked up.

She shook out her fist. “That’s for being dumb,” Yuu told him superciliously. She punched him again. “And that one was for punching me in the face. Can you help me get back to my room without being seen?”

A great cry of confusion arose from the gathered spectators. “ _Huuuuh!?_ ”

—

“Stay _still_ ,” Leopard said for the third time as she flinched away from his hands. “It’s only gonna sting more if you keep doing that.”

“Are you sure they’re not gonna walk in and see us?” Yuu asked nervously, glancing around at the wall of Therianthrope faces that covered their corner of the lounge.

“You’re even more worried than I am,” Aardvark muttered. He was awkwardly positioned on the couch across from her.

“Don’t worry,” a tall, gangly student with soft deerlike ears pointed a thumbs up her way. “I checked. Leona-senpai got dragged off by the Magift team with Ruggie again, so they shouldn’t be back for another hour at least.”

“Oww,” Yuu cried as isopropanol bubbled against her left arm where it had been scraped raw. “That hurts like the devil!”

Bear looked at her bemusedly. “You didn’t make a single sound when this guy—” he shoved Aardvark “—nearly knocked you out, but a bit of alcohol makes you complain like a little girl?”

Some of the gathered Savanaclaw students laughed. “Yuu-chan’s always been kind of _off_ ,” Giraffe said, drawing circles against his temple.

Leopard tied gauze neatly over the wound. “Okay. Your pretty little face is next, Yuu-chan.”

Yuu grumbled something about teasing being unnecessary and tilted her head to give him access to her sore jaw.

Aardvark, once he understood that she was not going to snitch on his actions to Leona provided that he helped her get back safely, carried her into the lounge personally. But Thursday night saw the room full of idle students, and Leopard and Round Ears had both dropped their playing cards at her entrance, paling drastically before anger pressured the air around them. Absently, Yuu noted that the way Therianthropes displayed emotions was almost tangible—manifesting nearly physically around them, like an uncontrolled spasm of magic.

They were also quick to action. The two of them rushed at Aardvark with fists drawn back until she’d stopped them with outstretched palms, explaining quickly. Dimly, Yuu realized that it was the first time they’d acted as her ‘guards’, but it was completely unnecessary. After all, the incident was over.

As a result of Leopard and Round Ears’ brief scuffle, almost everyone in the lounge was now aware of what had happened earlier. They crowded around, staring at her curiously. Yuu was reminded of an exhibit of large-eyed animals that came to study visitors at the zoo. It was kind of cute.

The questions poured in too fast for her to react; Bear and Jackal took it upon themselves to explain how Yuu had been beaten within an inch of her life on a misunderstanding—the former gruffly, the latter with excitement and embellishment. Savanaclaw’s students listened raptly, the crowd growing until she was completely surrounded by dorm students. Aardvark looked very uncomfortable, though there was no trace of remorse in his expression.

Giraffe was snorting intermittently by the time the story was over. “Wait, okay,” he managed as Leopard dabbed at her jaw. “Let me get this straight. Yuu-chan didn’t even know Leona-san was the Dorm Head? It’s been almost _two months_ since school started.”

“Wasn’t he the one who kidnapped him?” Lynx squinted. “I can’t believe this kid is so…slow.”

“Hey,” Yuu protested reflexively, like most Ravenclaws would, “I’m not slow.”

“Socially slow.”

“I don’t like you,” she shot back sulkily. “So what if I don’t know anyone in this stupid place.”

The gathered students burst into laughter again. Yuu wondered why they found everything so funny.

“Done,” Leopard pulled back, slapping a bandage over her cheek painfully. “It’s pretty obvious you got hit in the face, but the wound is all covered. It’s up to you what to do next, kid.”

Yuu thought for a second as everyone fixed their expectant eyes on her again. “You think they’ll believe me if I said I tripped up the stairs and broke my crutch?”

She really didn’t understand why people in this dorm burst into laughter all the time. Yuu glanced around bemusedly at Giraffe, who was howling, his friends who were nearly rolling on the floor, and found Aardvark looking at her like she was crazy.

“Why the hell would you make an excuse on my behalf?” he asked her suspiciously. “What, you wanna blackmail me or something?”

“Huh?” Yuu blinked in confusion. “Why would I want to blackmail you? You had a misunderstanding with me, that’s all. Plus, it would just cause more trouble around here if Leona-senpai found out.”

 _Hurting a woman is a crime_ , he’d told her. Since Leona knew her gender, it was to the benefit of all involved that he didn’t learn of her beatings. Yuu wasn’t here to cause trouble. She wanted to leave as soon as possible.

“…Is he crazy?” Aardvark muttered.

“I punched you back,” Yuu reminded him. “Twice.”

“ _What_?” several of the students gathered shoved forward, chorusing excitedly.

“Oh man, it was too good,” Jackal said excitedly. “This kid just hopped right over to him on his good foot and went _wham!_ _Bam!_ One after another!”

Leopard gave her an exasperated look as laughter flooded the lounge. “…Why didn’t you come find us?” he asked her. “It’s our job to sort of make sure you, a weak little human, didn’t die before Leona-san was done using you.”

“But I’m fine.” Yuu didn’t get what the big deal was. “More importantly. If you feel like you owe me, or whatever, can I ask for two things?”

“So you _did_ want something,” Aardvark spat, drawing back cautiously.

“I’m a person. All people always want something.”

She had said it so matter-of-factly that Leopard snorted. “You know sometimes Yuu-chan’s just merciless, isn’t he?”

“You shoulda heard him earlier when he was getting beaten up,” Jackal nodded emphatically.

Yuu ignored them and held up a finger. “So first, can you tell me about Leona-senpai? Like how cool he is and how he got to be Dorm Head and stuff. I don’t know anything about him and that’s what sort of caused this whole, ah, friendly spat tonight.”

Round Ears choked.

“And second,” she held up another finger, “someone please catch me up on what the first years missed this week in classes. I swear if any more homework piles up while I’m gone, I’ll drown in it.”

Her words dropped into the silent lounge. The sound of rushing water overwhelmed the room. Aardvark, Leopard, Round Ears, Bear, and Lynx all looked at her like she was insane—when she glanced around, the rest of the gathered Savanaclaw students were all gaping dumbly in her direction. Yuu, who was by now completely used to this type of stare, ignored it with aplomb and waited for an answer expectantly.

Antelope broke the unnatural silence. “…That’s it?”

Yuu squinted at him. “I thought I was being pretty unreasonably extravagant. What, you can’t do it?”

Aardvark let out an incredulous laugh. “You’re frickin’ weird as hell, Yuu-chan.”

“I wonder why everyone says that,” she mumbled. “Aren’t I normal?”

This time, the roaring laughter echoed out of Savanaclaw’s lounge, through the hallways, and merrily out the windows into autumn’s cold night, chasing the bitterly chill winds from memory.

—

“Clang clang clang clang! It’s morning! Hello beautiful sun and welcome to another day at Savanaclaw! Hey Yuu-chan, wake up already, let me just put your curtain up for you, clang clang clang clang!”

Yuu nearly fell off her bed, shading her eyes against the sudden dawn blue flooding her room. “Argh! Wha?! _Frick_ everything hurts!”

“Oi. Shut the hell up,” Bear’s voice came from somewhere by the door.

A _thump_ and then blessed silence.

Now that she had been dragged back into wakefulness, all the residual pain of last night’s beating crashed into her body in one big wave. Yuu had snuck a shower before Leona could return and chanted _Episkey_ like a broken record to rid herself of the worst of it, but even mostly recovered, those bruises and cuts _stung_.

Yuu wrenched her eyes open blearily. Giraffe, the owner of that annoying loud voice, was clutching his foot and hopping around in silent agony while Bear stared at him, unimpressed, from the doorway.

He caught sight of her and nodded. “Your crutch is broken, right? We’re here to ferry you downstairs to the washroom. The floors up top are hard to traverse, so Leopard sent us.”

“Um,” Yuu said weakly, “thanks for the offer. But I’m not allowed to use any washroom other than the one in Leona-senpai’s room.”

She remembered the strength behind his statement back on Monday—“Do you _want_ to get figured out?” he’d snapped—and Yuu was used to following directions anyway. Plus, having never really tried to act as a boy, she was frankly not confident that she wouldn’t be exposed if the showers were communal here.

Both of them stilled in surprise at this, though they recovered easily enough. “…We’ll deposit you at his door,” Bear gave her a bemused look. “Doesn’t he get angry when you wander in at will?”

“No?” Yuu wrinkled her nose. “Leona-senpai’s pretty chill most of the time.”

“Pretty chill,” Giraffe choked, face screwing up further.

“Are you going to cry in pain or laugh hysterically? Hurry and decide before I kick you again.” Bear gave him a flat stare to mask the strange look he was still sending in her direction.

Yuu managed to hide her rather feminine toiletries in her bag before Bear hefted her up with one arm to carry her over to Leona’s door. He set her down and told her he’d be waiting outside. Giraffe asked her to tell him what it was like, using the Dorm Head’s washroom, before Yuu stumbled blearily across Leona’s room to shower and clean herself and cast _Episkey_ fervently on her stomach.

Breakfast was a rowdy affair. Yuu arrived sitting on Bear’s arm to a cacophony in the kitchen as late risers snatched toast off a huge stack and sprinted out the door. At her arrival, several vaguely familiar faces brightened, and she was greeted with a loud chorus of “Yuu-chan!” and “brat!” and “you look like hell” accompanied with laughter. Bewildered at the positive attention she was getting, Yuu waved hesitantly at the stragglers as they sped past her with painfully strong pats on her head and shoulder.

Yuu squinted after them as Giraffe collected a huge tray of bread, scrambled eggs, sausage, and fruit, humming energetically. Bear grabbed a pitcher of milk and directed them to the lounge, where over fifty Savanaclaw students were loitering around, ignoring the clock ticking slowly down to the warning bell for first hour.

“Yuu-chan!” the chorus rippled through the crowd of them again.

“What the heck?” she responded intelligently, setting Giraffe off again.

“We won the rock-scissors-paper,” Lynx told her unhelpfully over his gasps of laughter.

Bear deposited her across from Aardvark, who scratched his head awkwardly before tossing her a crutch. She saw the crack in the middle.

Yuu looked between it and him. “You fixed this for me?”

“It’s just glue. Shut up and take it already.”

Leopard slid in on her right side, munching on a granola bar. “He’s a _tsundere_ ,” he explained, “just ignore him.”

“Why is everyone being so weird today?” Yuu blurted out, unable to comprehend what was occurring. “Don’t you all hate me?”

“What, you want us to hate you or something?” a student called over.

She thought for a moment. “Well…no, but it’s easier to understand. What brought on the sudden bipolar disorder thing?”

“Try thinking about your actions last night,” Lynx suggested, mouth twitching.

Yuu tried. “…And?”

“I haven’t seen a kid this dense even at RSA,” muttered another.

“Yuu-chan, stop being so hilarious, this giraffe here is actually going to die,” another told her with a smile.

Aardvark cleared his throat. “Anyway, we’re here to fulfil the first part of our deal, about Leona-san,” he cut through the chatter. “There were too many people who wanted to join in, so we had them cut it down to fifty. You’ll just have to deal with the idiots around here.”

“Um,” Yuu put up a hand. “ _Why_?”

“Yuu-chan! Is it true you punched this guy _twice?!_ ” A student slung an arm around Aardvark.

“Gerroff me!”

“Yuu-chan, I heard your insults cut to the bone.”

“Red-hot,” Giraffe confirmed, passing her an apple.

“I’m so lucky,” another bragged, “I won eight straight games of rock-scissors-paper to make it here.”

“ _Why?_ ” Yuu repeated. “Also, rock-scissors-paper sounds like a surprisingly peaceful game for you lot.”

Bear coughed. “Not if it’s rock-scissors-paper-punch.”

Yuu swung around. “Punch?”

“Anyway, it’s a great excuse to make a long weekend,” the one with deerlike ears collapsed comfortably on the carpeted rock. “I haven’t skipped class in a while. Feels good.”

“We’re gonna tell you about how great Leona-senpai is until you can recite it in your sleep,” a smaller student clenched both fists excitedly.

“Oh,” Yuu emitted, infected by the good cheer bubbling through the lounge, and returned his smile bemusedly. “Well, um, please do? I guess?”

Everyone burst into laughter again.

“ _Please_ he says!”

“This posh li’l gentleman!”

“After he survived initiation and getting smacked around, he says _please_!”

“What, you come from some rich family?”

“Not really,” Yuu blinked.

She really didn’t understand these people. Were Savanaclaw’s residents all so…insane? From last night to this morning—their reaction had flipped around so quickly it was giving her whiplash.

Nevertheless, Yuu listened eagerly through a leisurely breakfast as Lynx and Aardvark dove into a play-by-play of Leona’s heroic Magift game that broke school records two years ago. According to them, he was an almost legendary Magift player who had unjustly suffered at the hands of the Diasomnia Dorm’s Dorm Head, the infamous Malleus Draconia.

“If not for that lizard bastard, we’d have scored first place school-wide just like in Leona-san’s first and second year,” Round Ears said vehemently. “I’ll never forgive him.”

“I hear a lot about this Diasomnia’s Dorm Head,” Yuu said thoughtfully, “but is he really that much of a genius?” Also, why had Round Ears called him a lizard?

“Well…” Aardvark hesitated. “We don’t really know. It’s impossible to get near him. Draconia-senpai’s got this unbearable aura around him that scares people off.”

“But Leona-san’s not _afraid_ ,” piped up Deer proudly from the carpet, “and he’s got both experience and presence in this school. But Diasomnia’s full of proud bastards that make the rest of the dorms look like pilgrims. No one’s ever won a duel against him. It’s been impossible to get one over that guy since he’s come to this school.”

“Like anyone’s been stupid enough to challenge the _heir to the Fairy clan_ to a duel,” spat Leopard sulkily.

“Didn’t you try before that second year’s Sleeping Beauty ground you into the dust?” Bear put in. “You didn’t even manage to reach Malleus.”

“Shut up!”

Heir to the Fairy clan?

Yuu wanted to ask further, but she was more concerned with Leona right now, so she decided to save it for later. “So that’s why he’s planning to take the Diasomnia dorm down during the Magift tournament this year?”

A sudden hush fell over the fifty-plus students gathered. Round Ears clicked his tongue in irritation and slammed his empty glass down. He swore under his breath. When Yuu looked around, many of the gathered had their faces screwed up in frustration, anger, some mix of emotions she couldn’t read.

Leopard sighed. “…Leona-senpai’s…since he became dorm head, Savana’s become a better place to live.”

“Even before he was a dorm head.” Aardvark looked subdued. “My bro was here a few years ago back when Leona-san was a first year. It was no man’s land in this place and Leona-san just…”

“What you went through, Yuu-chan,” Giraffe told her almost gently, “these past few days. Apart from this moron losing his temper—”

“—I’m not a moron!” Aardvark protested.

“—almost all Savanaclaw inductees used to go through the same thing.” Giraffe ignored him. “Maybe some human kid like you who never touched magic wouldn’t understand, but power is everything in the Afterglow Savannah where we come from. The weak get eliminated. The strong dominate.”

“Law of the jungle,” Yuu mumbled.

“That’s right, though this case it’s law of the savannah.” Giraffe grinned over several of his dorm-mates’ groans. “But it was way worse before Leona-san came. I’ve only heard stories about the bloodshed and the power struggles in this dorm, but even the Headmaster has kept a wary eye on Savana after someone nearly ripped a student to pieces years ago.”

“I’ve stayed back two years, too,” one gruff student with comically small tufts of ears lifted his hand. “So I’ve been here since Leona-san was a sophomore. I can tell you that man has something special in him. Savana’s a place where allies gather together and form packs, since hunting alone is the height of folly.”

“But not Leona-san,” Aardvark puffed out his chest proudly. “That man was strong enough to stand by himself from the moment he stepped into this school. And _change_ it! He is truly fit to be the Dorm Head!”

Round Ears nodded fervently. “He’s the only person I’ve ever seen who managed to survive in here alone. His first year, everyone who picked a fight with him could barely walk away. He’s never lost a fight here.”

“There have been people who wanted to serve by him as his vice dorm head, but…” Lynx sighed. “But he’s just…too excellent.”

A smaller student piped up, “And scary.”

“All predators should be scary,” snapped Aardvark defensively. “Let alone someone who stands at the top like Leona-san.”

“Anyway,” Leopard cut in. “The point is, Leona-san has single-handedly managed to overturn the chaos and bloodshed that made Savanaclaw so dangerous in his time here. It’s not something anyone can do. He’s made this place liveable for all of us.”

Jackal nodded solemnly. “He does a hell of a lot more for the dorm than anyone else has before him. Even this Magift tournament…whatever he’s planning…I bet you it’s because of us that he’s doing it.”

This she hadn’t expected. Leona acted like he did only what he wanted to. Yuu blinked through a mouthful of buttered toast. “Not because he wants to win?”

“Well yeah, we all want to win,” Deer shrugged, “though not all of us are so crazy about Magift. But if Leona-san really wanted to win, he could. Probably.”

“You’re contradicting yourselves,” Yuu said bemusedly. “Isn’t it because he isn’t physically strong enough to beat Diasomnia that this is all being planned?”

The group fell silent, exchanging glances. “…Look, Yuu-chan,” Lynx said quietly, “sometimes it’s better to stay ignorant.”

“What?”

“Leona-senpai might be strong and cool, but he’s scary as _hell_ ,” another student told her solemnly.

“If he wanted to, he could bring the whole castle down,” a third said under his breath.

There it was again, that undercurrent of fear. Yuu wondered if fear was necessary for a place like Savanaclaw where power ruled absolutely. Everyone respected and loved Leona Kingscholar, but she knew it was no easy feat to earn a position like this. Just what had he done to make these students so wary of him?

And if Leona was indeed strong enough to win, why wasn’t he exerting his power?

Yuu thought that the reason that no vice Dorm Head had been assigned was probably because they were too afraid to line up next to him. In that regard, Ruggie who braved standing by Leona for some spare change (quite a lot of spare change) was either truly desperate to survive here or fearless. Maybe he’d know the reason for all of this—she should ask him later.

Aardvark slammed the table with a fist. “Anyway!” he shouted. “We’re not here to talk about that.”

Leopard cleared his throat. “Right. Leona-san might be scary as hell, but he’s our leader, and unlike the other dorm heads this place has laid their eyes on, he’s good at it and responsible. Tell me. What happens when the Magift tourney results in us getting beaten to a pulp by one player from Diasomnia?”

“One player?” just how powerful was this Malleus Draconia? Yuu squinted. “…Well, since this thing is broadcast on worldwide TV with magical scouts and athletic scouts pouring in the school, you guys get embarrassed in front of the entire world.”

“Not just that. Savanaclaw’s reputation and NRC’s reputation is affected,” Round Ears said gruffly. “And there are players here who are talented and ready to aim for a career in Magift. What do you think happens to them?”

Yuu fell silent. There really needed to be a reworking of the rules committee.

“I know what you’re thinking. The game is rigged.” Jackal pushed his way up front to steal the fruit bowl. “You’re right—but that kind of thinking is entitled. This school isn’t RSA. No one’s going to fight for you. You have to fight for yourself if you’re not a baby.”

“And Leona-san knows that the best,” Aardvark said proudly. “He’s the epitome of the indomitable spirit this dorm was founded on. He’s going around sniping players and stuff to warn people, but the plan he’s got for the day of…still plays within the confines of the ‘rules’ this school has set up.”

“So,” Leopard leaned back against the couch. “The reason why he’s going to all this trouble is because of us. Leona-san wouldn’t do something so complicated for no reason. He knows that our futures are at stake and he knows how unfairly the odds are stacked against us. And he still fights.”

“So fricking _cool_.”

“Cheers to Leona-senpai!”

“Leona-san!”

Yuu watched them chug milk in Leona’s honour. “You guys _really_ like him,” she said to herself.

“So do you, right?” Giraffe put down his empty glass.

She blinked. “Me?”

“Well, yeah,” Lynx blinked back. “Why would you ask us about his cool episodes?”

“I just wanted to learn more…” she hesitated.

“This kid has got more Savana in him than most outsiders,” Leopard told them all with a grin. “He didn’t even know Leona-san was the Dorm Head and went all the way through initiation without flagging.”

“True,” Round Ears said thoughtfully. “From what some of yesterday’s spectators told me, Yuu-chan really has guts.”

“You should’ve been there,” Jackal said eagerly. “This kid! While he was getting the shit kicked out of him! Was all like ‘aren’t you just digging your grave?’ and ‘you should be ashamed of yourself’ and ‘your mom’ and stuff.”

“I didn’t say that last one!” Yuu laughed.

Deer joined in. “But Yuu-chan, you’ve got a healthy dose of indomitability in you,” he said amicably. “That’s the whole reason we were willing to take you up on your deal.”

“Even though you’re weak as hell,” Aardvark mumbled sulkily.

“He’s just a _tsundere_. Ignore him.”

“Want me to kick the tar out of _you_ next?”

Savanaclaw’s residents had plenty more to say about Leona’s heroism. Yuu, who had been struck by the truth in Giraffe’s casual remark—she really _did_ like Leona a whole lot more than she expected if she was going this far to figure him out—listened raptly.

Even though the weak were disdained here, Leona Kingscholar had (perhaps inadvertently) created a system where they weren’t oppressed and left to die. He would send smaller Therianthropes off to do chores and give them money and possessions to help them with school, especially early in the year when they struggled to keep up. Ruggie Bucchi had been an outcast before Leona had done the same for him, even lending him old clothes that smelled like Leona to drive off anyone trying to hunt the lower-caste hyena. Of course, it was Ruggie’s skill that let him keep up for this long, but all the same Leona had given him the opportunity.

Yuu remembered what Ruggie had said yesterday about desperately trying to catch up with classes when he’d started here. About the too-large blazer’s cuffs looped several times over his bony wrists, his calloused hands. If _she’d_ noticed, there was no way Leona would have missed it—and unlike her, he didn’t need Ruggie to spell his poverty out. They were from the same country. Surely he could tell what it meant to come from Afterglow Savannah’s slums.

Oppressing the weak was easy. Taking pleasure in their pain was easy. Transforming Savanaclaw into its current state was anything but. Sure, she had a few choice words she could say about their ‘initiation’ now that she’d apparently passed it, but Yuu herself had gone through rounds of bullying before and didn’t find it as abhorrent as she should.

A good leader.

Just like Riddle, who knew the names of every one of the full contingent of Heartslabyul students. Just like Riddle, who recited all eight hundred and ten rules the Queen of Hearts had declared long ago. Just like Riddle, who had ensured that not a single person had repeated a year or been expelled since he came to power a week into his school career.

 _Unlike_ Riddle, Leona didn’t fixate on rules, the shape of things. It was all a gigantic chessboard to him, the roles labelled over each player—each piece—and loopholes found, exploited, exploited again to get results ruthlessly, cleanly. Where Riddle knew the rules perfectly, Leona knew how to circumvent them perfectly. Like Ruggie said—he was unfair, _so_ unfairly cunning, but still frustratingly talented enough to turn Savanaclaw on its head. To turn the school on its head. There was a maturity, the heaviness of wisdom within those green eyes that, compounded with its owner’s intelligence, was indeed frightening.

And he was using it all for his dorm students.

These Dorm Heads were so bright, so brilliant, that Yuu could only shake her head in amazement and sigh with admiration. Perhaps she was being infected by Savanaclaw lounge’s festive mood, but she thought that she would love to be able to witness Leona from within the dorm when he wasn’t an ‘enemy’. Right now, it looked like he only napped and played chess and behaved like a gentleman (albeit awkwardly) towards those of the female persuasion, even an intruder like Yuu, but to her surprise, she was beginning to wonder what he was like on a broom. Yuu _hated_ flying and she wanted to watch him play Magift.

Trey and Cater had told her NRC was full of students chosen based on their lack of character. Ace and Deuce had warned her there was no good person within this school. Ruggie had said nice guys finished last. Crowley repeated that the school was dangerous, full of starving beasts.

Yuu looked around at the faces she was surrounded by and thought that the most dangerous thing about NRC was just how beautiful its residents were—inside and out. Beauty was the greatest trickster, but it was such an alluring trap.

—

Watching people who hated her…stop hating her…was a new experience for Yuu, who had walked through fifteen years of her life largely ignored and shunned. But Savanaclaw’s good sportsmanship was a value she could appreciate. Now that Yuu had finished whatever trial they had put her through—to, apparently, their satisfaction—no one expressed even a modicum of displeasure against her.

Leopard’s and Round Ears’ nickname, ‘Yuu-chan’, had caught on. As Friday wore on and the lounge flooded with more and more students eager to ditch class, many of them dropped by the gathered group to share their own stories of Leona’s greatness, how Ruggie had pissed them off more than once, how she should try Magift because it really was the best thing ever. All of them called her ‘Yuu-chan’ without fail in the same friendly, slightly mocking tone.

When the Heartslabyul equestrian team members had praised her for saving Riddle, accepted her as an add-on to Ace and Deuce’s duo, Yuu had a hard time trusting their goodwill, but Savana’s kids were half-teasing her with a more familiar approach. Their attitude was founded on her actions and their smiles full of casual brightness, like she was actually a friend. Yuu’s chest felt ticklish.

“I can’t fly,” she protested, trying to wriggle out of Jackal’s playful wrestling grip. “No magic, remember?”

“You can ride behind one of us,” Aardvark looked at the two of them with reluctant amusement.

Leopard exposed his fangs in a dangerous grin. “Yuu-chan, Savana’s your best bet for a ride-along. Not to brag, but we all naturally _pretty_ good at Magift.”

“This guy fell of his broom last week trying to ride it like a skateboard,” Jackal told her conspiratorially.

Leopard bristled. “Says the moron who was so scared of leaving the ground that he flew upside down on his broom for a week straight!”

“Nope,” Yuu gave up on struggling and fixed them all with her most solemn look. “You don’t understand. Just looking at a broom makes my knees go weak, so there is no fricking way I am riding with a partner or without one.”

“Aww, is Yuu-chan _scared?_ ”

“I didn’t say _that_ ,” she protested unconvincingly.

“Don’t worry, you can hold my hand,” Leopard snorted.

Yuu gave him the stink eye. “You want me to punch _you_ this time?”

They all roared with laughter again.

It was in the midst of this lively chatter that Leona and Ruggie arrived, the former yawning, the latter with his hands laced behind his neck casually. The two of them had been in the middle of a discussion that was drowned in the sudden laughter.

Yuu didn’t notice them, at first. She was gravely trying to dissuade Leopard from bodily carrying her over to his broom and going for a ride that afternoon with the desperation of a dying man. “Listen, you don’t _understand_ ,” she repeated, “that thing is a flimsy piece of wood. You fly like ten kilometres in the air. If anything happens, I’m going to literally _die._ ”

“What happened to the guy who was brave enough to punch me twice?” Aardvark said gamely, smiling meanly as they latched on to her weakness. “C’mon, you can’t be afraid of _flying_ of all things.”

“Sir, you’re not only blessed with physical abilities, but you have magic. Ma-gic. M-a-g-i-c. Something I don’t have,” Yuu squinted at him. “Oh, wait. Do I have to define it for you?”

“Hold him down,” Aardvark told Jackal, losing the grin. “I’m gonna strap him to the broom myself.

“Oh no,” Yuu evaded Jackal’s grasping hands and bumped into Leopard, who was giving her a nasty smirk. “Oh no no no no. You fricking cowards! At least fight me one on one! Argh! Lemme go!”

“Don’t worry, Yuu-chan,” Deer laughed, “You’ll love flying!”

“Like hell!” Yuu flailed weakly as Jackal swung his arm across her shoulders again. She looked around desperately. “Someone get me out of this crowd of maniacs…Ruggie-senpai! Ruggie-senpai, help!”

Ruggie and Leona were standing by the river unnoticed. When Yuu caught sight of him, she called out without restraint, drawing the rest of the Therianthropes’s attention. None of them had been aware of the Dorm Head’s entrance, either; Jackal’s arm went slack and Deer grew pale, ready to run.

The hyena Therianthrope had been examining their rowdy group with all expression fallen from his face. His grey eyes glittered blue with the reflection of the waterfall.

Yuu didn’t notice. “Save me senpai,” she said, putting on a mask of grief, “These scary weirdos are trying to force me to _ride on a broom._ ”

“What,” Ruggie started lowly, regaining emotion. He pointed wildly at the crowd gathered around their table. “What the _hell_ —wait a second. Yuu-kun, why is your face bandaged?”

“Oh shit,” Aardvark mumbled as Ruggie’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Oh, this?” Yuu shrugged the plaster off nonchalantly, having practiced the lie. “I fell over on the stairs swinging myself around yesterday and smacked my face.”

“Right.” Ruggie approached them with a raised brow; the crowd parted instinctively for him. Today he was already dressed in his dorm clothing, the oversized _dashiki_ tunic falling low past his scored jeans to reveal skinny arms and wrists. He crossed the group to approach her, looking unimpressed. “Wouldn’t have anything to do with this aardvark here who refuses to meet my gaze, now, would it?”

“I guessed right! He is an aardvark.” Yuu said triumphantly.

“ _That’s_ what you focus on?” someone mumbled.

“Yuu-kun,” Ruggie started to rub at his forehead, “you need to _tell_ me if you get in trouble. And what the hell were your guards doing?”

Leopard looked at the sky. Round Ears didn’t move a muscle.

“Oh, come on.” Yuu wriggled out of Jackal’s slack hold and gave him a flat stare. “I can’t exactly have people carry me everywhere, can I? Plus it was just one accident. I’m fine.”

“You’re sticking with that excuse, huh?” Ruggie squinted his grey-blue eyes at her in an unfriendly smile, revealing a tooth. “Being threatened or something? Hyenas are great at—”

“Senpai,” Yuu said loudly, looking over at Bear, “what were you saying just now before the Magift freaks started going on and on about Flight class?”

“Yuu-kun.” Ruggie growled.

Bear blinked at her twice, but at her wordless urging, gained the smallest grin she’d ever seen. “…You mean about how Ruggie fell from the third floor last year after stealing four Deluxe Minced Cutlet sandwiches from us and got chewed out by Trein for three hours while he was stuck in a tree?”

“ _What_!?” Ruggie had not been expecting that. “What the hell are you telling him? And that wasn’t even my fault, it was that damn moray—”

Giraffe was snorting with laughter again. “Dude,” he slapped at his leg, “I just remembered that one time when he went through nicking everyone’s wallet in the entire dorm and opened them all only to find they were empty.”

“Leona-san had told everyone to hide their real wallets,” another student recalled, starting to grin, “because he said a sticky-fingered hyena was coming through. You should’ve seen his face when Ruggie opened up the first one, Yuu-chan.”

“Wait, I think I have a picture,” Jackal said excitedly, reaching for his phone. “Hey, Yuu-chan, give me your number so I can send it to you.”

“Sorry,” Yuu said sheepishly, “I don’t have a phone.”

The crowd roared as one, “Yuu-chan, you don’t have a _phone!?_ ”

Ruggie sat weakly in one of the open chairs around the alcove they were in. “…Hold on,” he pointed at her. “You…what did you even…they hate your guts.”

“Right,” Yuu said thoughtfully, “they did. To be honest I’m not sure what really happened.”

“Don’t worry so much, Bucchi-senpai,” a student told him cheerfully, “we don’t really know what happened either, but Yuu-chan’s not so bad.”

“And we’re gonna take you out flying whether you want it or not,” Jackal shoved his phone back in his pocket with a nasty smile. “Taste the wind, kid!”

“Not over my dead body,” she cried. “Ruggie-senpai help me.”

Ruggie put his chin on his hands, leaning his elbows against the table. “He~h?” he grinned. “You’re afraid of flying?”

“Not you too.” Yuu despaired.

“You’ve got info on me now, apparently, so it only makes sense I get dirt on you in return,” he told her reasonably. “What, never been on a broom before?”

“Hello? No magic?” Yuu pointed at herself.

“This kid doesn’t even participate in Flight class,” someone told Ruggie conspiratorially. “So we decided to take it upon ourselves to teach him the basics.”

“I don’t need that kind of charity,” she shot back. “Go figure out how to win against Diasomnia first.”

“Ouch,” Leopard hissed, laughing, “here comes Yuu-chan’s killer one-liner!”

“Hey, do you insult people like you breathe all the time, or is it just us?” Deer batted his eyelashes at her.

Yuu batted her eyelashes back. “You’re just _special_.”

They all burst into laughter again.

Ruggie shook his head in amazement, but he was smiling along with them. “…Beast tamer,” he mumbled. “Yuu-kun, you’re pretty scary, have I told you that?”

“Huh?” Yuu tilted her head at him in confusion. “Yeah you have.”

“Hopefully you’re not trying to topple Savanaclaw from the inside,” he lowered his voice, peering into her face across the table.

Yuu gave him an incredulous look. “ _What_? How do I do that? _Why_ would I do that?”

Ruggie shook his head and reached forwards to ruffle her hair.

The others around her had caught sight of Leona and were eagerly greeting him with cries of ‘senpai’ and ‘welcome back’ and ‘what are we doing this weekend?’. When Ruggie and Yuu turned to look at the clamour, she found him staring in her direction, emerald eyes narrowed as if he were squinting at the sun. The afternoon oranges of October light silhouetted his hundred and eighty-five centimetres and set his brown hair blazing. He looked distant, and despite the solid build of his muscle, fragile in a way she couldn’t explain.

Leona mouthed something at her. Yuu squinted, but before she could figure out what he had said, he’d been surrounded with the group so eager to gain a look, a sentence, a cynical smile from the Dorm Head.

Yuu remembered with a start. “Right,” she said, narrowing her eyes and hopping awkwardly over Jackal with her newly fixed crutch, “I’ve got words for him.”

“Yuu-kun?”

“One second,” she told Ruggie absently.

Yuu patiently waited her turn in the crowd. Leona looked singularly bored as he brushed off his admirers without courtesy, but she watched how he never ignored any of them. A good leader. She should have noticed earlier—still, he had deliberately kept his identity from her. Yuu didn’t care if he had reasons for it. She needed to settle the score, at least, before she was satisfied.

Finally, Yuu wobbled close enough to speak to him in a normal voice. One of Leona’s ears was pointed in her direction, but he didn’t even spare her a glance. “I said not today,” he drawled.

“Then tomorrow,” bargained a tall, heavyset student. His friend nodded beside him emphatically. “Any time tomorrow is okay, and we won’t take up too long! I swear!”

“You said that last time.” Leona arched one eyebrow gracefully.

“Please Leona-senpai!” his friend clasped his hands in supplication. “I think I finally managed that move…that feint that you told me to work on last time! Just one game!”

“Ahhh,” Leona rubbed his temples, looking annoyed, “fine, fine, _one_ game and no more, you brats. Tomorrow afternoon at the pitch before dinner.”

A small cheer rose from the students in front of her. “As expected of Leona-sama!”

“Leona-senpai _banzai_!”

He bared his teeth at them. “Get outta here before I change my mind.”

“You’re good at that,” Yuu remarked, bemused, as the students in front of her scattered excitedly, debating on practicing tonight or tomorrow morning before their match.

“Herbivore.” Leona finally turned his derisive gaze towards her. He sneered mockingly. “Looks like you managed to get some of Savana under your thumb, huh? What, you planning on convincing them to help you escape?”

“No,” Yuu waved him off impatiently, long since used to his attitude. “Who cares about that right now. And they’re just teasing me like a new toy. It’s not like they’d ever do anything that would make you unhappy.”

Leona blinked, losing the cynicism from his countenance. “…Who _cares_?” he repeated, a line forming between his brows. “Aren’t you trying to leave?”

“I’ve learned something in my six days here, you know,” Yuu started conversationally, ignoring him. “The way Savanaclaw communicates is a little…a lot different from the way Heartslabyul communicates.”

“Right,” Leona narrowed his eyes at the plaster on her cheek. “…We aren’t as _highbrow_ as those rich boys. What, disappointed?”

“So since I’m in Savanaclaw right now, I’m going to follow their customs,” she continued. “Senpai. You’ve been keeping a lot of stuff from me, haven’t you?”

Leona stilled, finally sensing the unnatural layer of calm in her voice. “…I’ve no clue what you’re talking about,” he said casually, his ears pointed straight up.

“Don’t play dumb, it doesn’t befit you,” Yuu said smartly, dropped her crutch, and checked him in a full-body tackle.

Monday morning, she’d tried punching him for indirectly causing Trey’s injury. Yet Leona didn’t even look winded despite her putting all she had in the hit. It wasn’t just because she was weak—Aardvark had told her that her punches were more-or-less on par with those of a regular human’s earlier. Leona was almost unfairly strong, and his muscles were rock-hard in a way she’d only seen in superhero movies. Plus, he had close to thirty centimetres on her.

Still, she wasn’t willing to let it go without _some_ form of resistance, so she put her all into the move. Yuu was rewarded with a whoosh of air leaving his lungs as she planted her arm into his side. Simultaneously, the entire lounge went dead silent.

Yuu yelped as Leona took one step back in surprise; without her crutch, her badly balanced ankle gave out almost immediately, sending her face-planting into his chest in an ungainly stumble. To his credit, he regained his cool relatively quickly. Leona put both gloved hands under her armpits and lifted her into the air like a disobedient house cat before she could collapse.

Sticking a finger in his face, she narrowed her eyes at him petulantly. “Why didn’t you tell me you were the Dorm Head? I kept wondering who it was this whole time.”

“He’s _fricking insane_ ,” she heard Jackal hiss behind her.

“Yuu-chan…there’s fearless and there’s folly,” Round Ears mumbled.

“I can’t watch,” Deer got out, “someone tell me when it’s over.”

Leona was staring at her dumbly. Unlike the narrow-eyed expression he had on earlier, this time his emerald eyes were wide, reflecting the firelight. Up close, Yuu saw the way the fur on the insides of his ears paled at the tips to a soft beige.

“What?” she said irritably after a full thirty seconds of silence. “I won’t let you pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about right now. You know, it’s kind of irritating when people hide information from me, Leona-senpai. You probably had your reasons but—”

“… _ku_.”

The strong hands holding her effortlessly in the air trembled. Surprised, she paused as Leona lowered his chocolate brown head. What on earth did he do to care for his hair? Yuu was starting to suspect that he was actually a model on the side. She had never seen lustre like that even in shampoo commercials.

“ _Ku ku._ ” This time his shoulders shook. Leona threw his head back, long tail swishing in the air. His unrestrained laugh echoed over the waterfall and through the silent lounge. “Ha ha ha ha ha!”

Yuu gaped at him together with the rest of the room. “He’s broken,” she said with horror.

Leona, still laughing, hefted her over one arm the same way Kalim had last week and picked up her crutch with one smooth movement. “You…” he shook his head in a disbelieving sort of delight. “Never fail to surprise me.”

Her legs dangling from his horizontally outstretched upper arm, Yuu wondered what was it that hit these Savanaclaw students’ funny bone. They laughed at _everything._ She studied him bemusedly and looked around at the still-frozen room, but no one provided an answer.

“So eager to learn more about me, eh?” Leona asked her, what could only be called a shit-eating grin spreading across his face. “What. You like me that much, herbivore?”

Yuu spluttered. “Stop twisting my words! Why didn’t you tell me in the first place?”

“I didn’t know you cared _that_ much,” Leona didn’t drop the grin. “What was that tackle? You looked like a tiny kitten trying to scratch his parent.”

“Careful, or else I might go for your eyes this time.” Yuu curled her fingers at his face.

“I’m pretty nice, so I’ll grant that wish,” Leona ignored her. “If you want to know _that_ much, why don’t we discuss it over a nice long game of chess.”

“…You’re angry, aren’t you?” Yuu deadpanned as he began to walk towards the door.

Leona twirled her re-joined crutch in his free hand, voice lifting in exaggerated surprise. “ _Angry_? Of course not. I haven’t been in a mood this good for a while.”

“You know we don’t have to do this,” Yuu tried. She had expected him to brush her off indifferently, perhaps growl a few times, maybe even shout at her. Surely everyone else had the same thoughts. And yet she did not recognize this confident grin he was wearing. Starting to fear for her life, Yuu backtracked. “You could just put me down and…”

“Why, how could I deny such a request from my underclassman?” Leona sounded comically overjoyed.

Yuu stared past his shoulder to the lounge of people who were gaping at her. Ruggie had his brow furrowed consideringly, but Lynx, Jackal and Giraffe were all holding their hands together in a prayer for her soul. Deer had his eyes covered and was muttering to himself frantically.

Right.

Yuu stuck out her tongue at them in a last hurrah before she disappeared around the corner. They’d been so eager to bully her earlier, but now she could see that Savanaclaw was just a gathering of cowards before their boss.

—

Surprisingly, Leona had not asked about the wounds on her face or the crack in her crutch. Neither had he displayed any form of anger. When he’d dropped her by the chessboard on his pillow nest, Yuu had prepared herself for all manner of painful ends, but instead he collapsed across from her just like a lion and lazily motioned for her to set the pieces.

They’d played chess in his room just like usual until Yuu forgot the pain still throbbing all over her beaten body. It was just like those times when they played in the botanical gardens—one game lasted much longer now, but their idle chatter was just as aimless. On his role as Dorm Head, Leona had snorted and told her it was obvious that it was him because he was the strongest, smartest, most talented person in Savanaclaw. There was nothing more to it.

Yuu wondered if all Dorm Heads were also arrogant as a rule. She’d asked him, which sent Leona into another round of low laughter. True to his earlier declaration, something had put him in an unbeatable mood that day—halfway through her third loss, he was even patient enough to teach her several good checkmates, which, of course, led him to reverse-checkmate her each time.

Oh, well. It was better than getting punched in return for her full-body check. And Leona laughing freely was pleasant for Yuu to hear, a refreshing departure from the cynical expression he wore like a mask.

She supposed this dorm wasn’t all bad, nor its leader.

The next morning, Yuu took it all back when he woke her up at the crack of dawn with a broom in his hand.

With an ugly groan, she stuffed her head under her pillow as light flooded into the room. “Not _again_ ,” her voice was muffled. “Giraffe-senpai, seriously, if you start singing, I’m going to throw this pillow at you.”

“Too bad, it’s me,” Leona’s much deeper drawl preceded him pushing her door’s curtain aside. “Not…‘Giraffe-senpai’. You don’t even know their names yet?”

“Leona-senpai?” Yuu, wincing as she opened her eyes against the sunrise, rubbed them sleepily. “I wish you’d all stop magically rolling up my curtain. It’s way too bright.”

“Go get dressed, herbivore.” Leona reached the foot of her bed and tossed her laid out clothing at her face. “And go wash up. We’re leaving.”

“Huh?” _Dashiki_ shirt falling from her face, Yuu gave him a weird look. He was always so bossy. “What time is it?”

“Six.”

“On a _Saturday_?” Yuu gave him a disgusted glare and lay down again. “Good night.”

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Leona said pleasantly. “Take your pick.”

Fifteen minutes later, Yuu towelled dry her damp hair in Leona’s washroom as she yanked on Savanaclaw dorm’s scored denim jeans and boots crossly. “I’m not happy with you,” she called out the doorway.

“If you don’t come out within a minute, I’ll drag you out myself,” was the amused response. Yuu stuck her tongue out at the door, tempted to imitate Deuce and growl back an insult worthy of a delinquent.

“So?” she swung her way back through the door after laboriously pushing it open, bag of toiletries in hand. “Why did you wake me at this ungodly hour in the morning on a _weekend_?”

“You’re so whiney in the mornings,” Leona stared down his nose at her, unimpressed. “Just nap later and stop yapping.”

“I don’t wanna destroy my sleeping patterns like you have,” Yuu shot back, depositing the bag on his messy bed. “And thanks to _someone’s_ dorm students I haven’t been sleeping very much recently.”

“Come on already,” Leona lost his patience. He took two wide steps forward and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of flour.

Yuu dropped her crutch with a yelp. “What—!”

“You said you wanted to know about me,” Leona’s voice was brightened with an unpleasant smirk. “Don’t worry, herbivore. Today your wish is gonna be granted. You can thank me later.”

For the second time in two weeks, Yuu found herself falling from a window. Leona’s balcony was traversed by him in three long steps before he leapt over it with the utmost ease. It was so quick that unlike with Ruggie, Yuu didn’t even manage to scream as he voice caught in her throat with utter horror. The infirmary had been on the second floor—this was the fifteenth or something!

A cold sweat beaded down her back; Yuu’s ears buzzed with her fear. Even without the traumatizing episode where she’d dangled from the Astronomy tower for more than twelve hours, she had never liked flying. It was the same principle that made her wary of Floo and Mirror Travel—she could not put her trust in something as flimsy as a thin stick of wood tied to a bundle of straw. Yuu had tried to get over her unreasonable fear with some success; Mahoutokoro’s vicious Quidditch team could not forgive her irrational phobia and had forced her to undergo several shock therapy methods including enchanting her own broom. Still, nothing could suppress that instinctive lightheaded unsteadiness of hanging in the air.

It took several minutes for her to realise she wasn’t hitting the ground painfully. Yuu became aware that she was breathing in short gasps, her fingers screwed tightly into Leona’s black leather vest. There was a solid warmth beneath her.

“…Oi,” Leona’s voice had lost its smile. “You’re afraid of heights?”

“Didn’t…” Yuu gasped, “I sort of admit it…yesterday?”

“You were so calm that I thought you were exaggerating,” he grumbled.

Not daring to let go, Yuu made the tremendous effort of peeling her eyes open. She looked around and regretted it immediately—Leona was sitting sideways on the floating broom, Yuu plastered halfway on top of him; they floated in the cloudy blue dawn so lightly. Nothing supported them.

Vertigo pushed at her back.

“Frickin’ hell,” Yuu stole one of Deuce’s choice swears and shut her eyes again with a swallow. “Give me a second please.”

Leona remained stock still as she fought to control her breath. Perhaps because of the lion genes (?) he had within him, his body temperature was higher than the average human’s, resembling Grim’s furry warmth when Yuu clutched him to her during a nightmare. It was the steady thump of his heartbeat against her ear that finally allowed her to swallow down the worst of her panic.

“Better?” he asked after a while. “Want to go back?”

“Better.” Yuu wrenched her eyes open again and fixed him with the most earnest expression she had ever made. “But don’t fricking let go of me please.”

Leona blinked once. “People without magic really are hopeless,” he mumbled absently.

“That’s right. I’m weak and stuff. If you let go of me, I’ll die immediately,” Yuu impressed the words slowly one by one to convey her urgency.

“Stop overreacting,” he rolled his eyes. Leona plucked her off his knees and planted her beside him on the broom. “See? You’re fine.”

Yuu swallowed a scream and squeezed desperately close to his side. “Okay,” she managed. “Okay. I’m fine.”

“I can’t believe someone like you managed to win those kids over,” she felt more than saw him shake his head.

“Me neither,” Yuu released one of her clawed hands to grip the broom handle. She remembered being dragged along on a Firebolt Mark II a year ago, remembered the hair-raising thrill of racing a dragon through the sky. This wasn’t so bad. Wasn’t so bad.

She sucked in a long shuddering breath. “… _Ahem_. Um, sorry about that. But seriously, give me some warning next time or else you might have a corpse on your hands.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Leona said dryly. A subtle breeze gathered around their broom and pushed it into a gentle sweep.

For all his mean-spirited teasing, Leona handled the broom more slowly than she expected. She’d seen Savanaclaw students in her class go rocketing up into the sky at Vargas’ shouts, watched Ace and Deuce lose control of their broom to spiral across the field and crash into walls, laughed as Grim was dragged in zigzags back and forth eight inches from the ground as he fought for evenness. Leona didn’t display even the smallest exertion of concentration as his broom sloped lightly in a circle around Savanaclaw dorm before leisurely floating towards the Magift pitch.

“You’re really good,” Yuu regained the wherewithal to comment several minutes later, finding her balance on the broom. She was still shoeless—in Savanaclaw, it was easy to forget to wear foot protection when no one else did in the evenings. Her legs dangled beside Leona’s much longer ones as she hesitantly peered down to the paved stadium below.

“Naturally.” Leona didn’t fake modesty. “You should be honoured that I’m personally sending you off on your first flying trip in this world. I don’t do this for just anyone, you know.”

“To be honest, I wouldn’t mind if you didn’t waste your effort on me,” she muttered.

“Say something, herbivore?” he drawled. The broom picked up speed.

“No sir,” Yuu squeaked.

Still, no one had ever handled a broom as effortlessly as Leona seemed to—if, instead of the aging Professor Hooch, he had been her instructor, Yuu wondered if her fear of flying would be so pronounced now. She still made sure Leona was within reach at a moment’s notice, but Yuu balanced beside him on the broom and watched the day break over the plains in a breath-taking burst of colour with enough wonder to forget the danger of falling.

“So?” Yuu asked some time later as they flew around the field in ovular laps. “What gives me the honour of a side-along ride with Savanaclaw’s great Dorm Head?”

“You’re still holding that against me?” Leona snorted.

“Holding back info is kind of a big deal to knowledge-seekers like me. Plus, I can’t shake the feeling that you were just doing it for the laughs.”

“Not my fault you’re so funny.”

Yuu decided against punching him in the side again. He might drop her for fun.

“It’s been a while since I rode with someone,” Leona’s sounded strangely muted when he spoke next. “…You said you wanted to know about me…to those brats.”

“…Right,” she admitted with a sigh. “For some unfathomable reason, I can’t find it within myself to dislike you.”

“You have terrible taste, kid,” he barked out a laugh. “No one’s said that to me outside of my immediate family.”

Yuu craned her head up to meet his gaze in surprise. “What are you talking about? Everyone here _worships_ you.”

“It’s temporary,” he shook his head dismissively, “All based on my status and their fear. It’s not like they actually like _me_ even if I am the best.”

The note of defeat was back in his voice. Yuu looked disbelievingly at him as Leona squinted out into the daylight. He wasn’t aware how much Aardvark loved him, how desperate his dorm students were to gain just one smile?

Yuu might have given up on it all—on her relationship with her parents, on her own value—but she was a piece of coal next to his shining talent. With all his pride and confidence, just what had caused him to think that others considered him low?

 _What a waste,_ she thought, _when you’re a source of light for so many._

Leona caught her glance and smiled his usual cynical smile. “The Afterglow Savannah is a monarchy,” he said abruptly. “You’ve told me about the democratic countries in your world, but _very_ few of those exist in Twisted Wonderland, if at all.”

Startled by the non sequitur, Yuu nodded once to prompt him to continue.

“The monarchy passes its kingship down the line from father to son,” he continued. “In the case there is more than one male heir, the oldest one is guaranteed the throne.”

“In some ways, this world really is backwards,” Yuu commented. Kings and kingdoms were so foreign to her twenty-first-century mind that she couldn’t quite grasp the heaviness of the roles. “What if the other sons are better candidates?”

Leona was startled into a laugh. “…Well, the first son that took the throne a number of years ago isn’t exactly a pushover,” he admitted, “though you’re damn right the rules are backwards as the Magift tournament rules here.”

In contrast to the first son of the erstwhile king—who, after rising to kingship himself, had now fathered an heir—the second son was, according to Leona, an outcast. Starkly different from the king’s warm and friendly disposition, he was surly, with none of the politicking skill needed to gain allies. More ruinous was his Unique Magic, which was widely feared and loathed by the residents of the Afterglow Savannah. A curse, they had said, his very existence a thunderbolt of fear in the kingdom. Negative rumours about the second prince had flooded the palace from the day he was born, but they really picked up speed when the child had mastered his Unique Magic.

Yuu bit down a sarcastic comment about the morons who judged someone based on a magic many could never master at all. Wasn’t the kid a genius? But talking lightly about the monarch of a kingdom in front of one of its residents was foolhardy at best and could cost her life if she wasn’t careful, so she stayed silent.

“What was so scary about his Unique Magic?” she asked instead.

Leona opened his mouth, looking down at her, but after a full minute of silence, he glanced away and closed it again. “…Who knows.”

“Oh, come on, don’t leave me hanging,” she cajoled. He had been about to tell her.

“It doesn’t matter, now, does it?” Leona cast his glance out past the bleachers as they circled the goalposts. “Either way, that little story was just my way of telling you…the way of the world. No matter how skilled or unskilled the second prince is, he’ll never be able to reach the throne. Remember that, herbivore. Savanaclaw’s kids have ambition in spades, and they’re always aiming for the top, but it’s not as easy as they think.”

Yuu listened with a frown, remembering the fierce light in Ruggie’s eyes as he promised her Leona would flip the world upside down. The excitement in Savanaclaw’s lounge as its students debated among themselves how they would make Malleus Draconia kneel in front of their Dorm Head.

“So what’s the point of you doing all this,” she waved a hand over her slightly swollen ankle and the Magift field. “Putting in all this effort to overturn the way of the world? You’re contradicting yourself.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Leona snorted, “this is just a game to pass the time. Like you said—it’s a chess match. It would be uncouth of me not to play with a board set right in front of me. And you see the way the brats’ eyes sparkle when they talk about taking first place and trampling that bastard Malleus underfoot. They’re full of stupid dreams, so why not let ‘em dream a little longer?”

A good leader.

Yuu didn’t know if the story he was telling her was true, but Leona had seemed to disdain this second prince of the Afterglow Savannah, even if he had just been a victim of circumstance. Leona himself had all the qualities of an excellent Dorm Head, and he’d already given up, used the story to illustrate his philosophy. She could see it in his eyes as he stared out blankly across the field without any determination, any of the indomitable nature of Savanaclaw’s founder, Sxar. He looked exhausted.

“What a waste,” she muttered. “When Ruggie-senpai was so sure you’d turn the world on its head.”

“That kid is a _hyena_ ,” Leona scoffed. “He was born in the dregs, so it’s not that out of the question for him to long for the top. Still, it’s not like he’ll ever make it there. In a country like the Afterglow Savannah, he’ll always be on the outskirts of society.”

“And yet you help him out. And yet right now, he’s pretty high up the Savanaclaw ladder.”

Leona eyed her briefly. “What. You disagree with me?”

“It’s just…” Yuu scowled at him. “You confuse the _hell_ out of me. Everything you do is a contradiction of what you say. Everything you say is a contradiction of what you do. The more you talk about yourself the more confused I get.”

A burst of speed sent her clutching his arm in fright again. When Yuu recovered and looked up to complain, he was glaring back at her.

“No one asked you to dive into my business,” Leona curled his lip at her, mood plummeting visibly. “You’re just some magicless, peasant hostage. What could you understand?”

“You’re the one who gave the orders to kidnap me, so don’t even start,” Yuu bit back unhappily. “And you’re the one who dragged me out on this broom ride. If you don’t want me to care, then stop making me care!”

“No one’s asking you to _care_ ,” he spat the word out like it was poison. “As if I need you to understand me.”

“Oh _fine_ ,” she retaliated. “If you’re going to be like that, then I’m going to get you to apologize to me formally when I figure out a way around that stupid story you told.”

“Stupid _story_?” he snarled. “What, you wanna make fun of the second prince everyone hates so much?”

“It’s a game,” Yuu told him fiercely. “A chess game with different rules. If I figure out a way to get this hypothetical prince on the throne, then I want you to stop looking like you’ve lost all your hope.”

Leona gave her an amazed stare. “Are you a fool, herbivore?”

“Just watch me,” she poked him in the arm painfully. “All I’ve learned about you is that you’re a hundred eighty-five centimetres of contradictions and that you keep running around in circles. What’s with that insipid story, anyway?”

This time his mouth peeled back to reveal his fangs. Leona’s throat rumbled in a low, threatening growl. “As if you’d—”

“—know.” she finished for him.

“Herbivore, you’re treading on thin ice,” Leona told her softly.

Yuu didn’t care. “You’ve been teaching me chess these past few weeks, haven’t you?” she challenged. “Before the Magift tourney, I’m going to solve this riddle, Leona-senpai. Then we’ll see who really is the stupid one.”

—

Yuu balanced her pencil across the hollow between her nose and mouth Sunday afternoon. She sat at the kitchen table beside Ruggie, who was making unintelligible noises to himself over his report. Deer explained to her those strange noises coming from his throat was actually the language of cats and other such felines. Upon closer inspection, the growling he was emitting was indeed reminiscent of Lucius’ yowling.

The first years might have been mostly brawn here in Savanaclaw, but they were still genius magicians at a world-renowned school. A few of the more studious ones had compiled a list of assignments for the week and even lent her their textbooks so that she could catch up on all she’d missed. As a result, Yuu had been bent over the table since before breakfast, furiously assembling assignment after assignment in her notebook to submit to Crewel and Trein once she was able to escape from this place.

Today was the coldest it had been all week; accordingly, Yuu had brewed a vat of hot cocoa that many a student would duck in to scoop a mug of as they were lured by the scent. But even with the sugar, her concentration could only last that long. She slumped over the kitchen table, flexing her fingers cramped from writing.

Ruggie lifted his Pen with a flourish and satisfied grunt. He caught sight of her and suppressed a laugh. “You look constipated, Yuu-kun.”

Yuu let her pencil fall. “Hey Ruggie-senpai,” she asked absently, staring at the steam drifting from her cup. “If you were planning a coup d’état to overthrow the monarchy in the Afterglow Savannah, what would you do first?”

Deer and Leopard, who had been doodling tic-tac-toe boards on their own assignments across from them, both swung their heads over to her wide-eyed.

“…Yuu-kun,” Ruggie managed weakly. “Stop. Just stop. Whatever you’re thinking, at least stay away from capital offences.”

“Huh? I’m not actually thinking about murdering the king,” Yuu blinked at him, “it’s hypothetical.”

“You are so frickin’ lucky we’re not within the country borders,” Leopard told her, eye twitching. “That’s treason, kid.”

“Well, I’m not a citizen of your country, am I?” she shot back. “But if you think about it, it’s not out of the question. If I’m not wrong, the country’s got a pretty steep divide between the wealthy and the not.”

“The gap is disgustingly large.” Ruggie nodded, playing along with her. “ _Shi shi shi_. Even if the current reign has improved conditions a bit, us outcasts have no love lost for that fluffy cat posing as a king.”

“Ruggie!” Leopard put his head in his hands. “Not you too.”

“A good king knows his people,” Ruggie shrugged. “ _All_ of them. Some comfy dandy boy who grew up surrounded by jewels and women is not _my_ king. I’ve said it before that I hate authority figures and he’s no exception. What, you like him?”

“Well…no, but,” Leopard lowered his voice, “almost everyone here is _from_ the Savannah, you dunce! Watch your words!”

“So if a few influential people can muster up enough power, they can seize control of the throne without war breaking out?” Yuu asked, sipping at her cocoa.

“This kid,” Deer shook his head in amazement.

“Theoretically,” Leopard slowed the word cautiously.

“Not a good idea,” surprisingly, it was Ruggie who dismissed it. “Even without war, the royal family is full of stubborn bastards who will probably figure out a way to survive and retake the throne. Their whole clan is super persistent. It’s gonna be impossible without bloodshed at this point, and a lot of it.”

“Not everyone is happy, but starting a revolution will result in too many casualties, especially of innocent civilians,” Yuu summarized. “Then what about a powerful politician gathering all of the malcontents and creating his own country?”

“What goes on in that little head of yours?!” Leopard gaped.

“Better idea,” Ruggie nodded. “There are certainly enough people who are sick of the slums and are hungry for better opportunities. Still, they don’t want to move to posh little backyards like the Country of Roses. Depending on how it happens, you can avoid a civil conflict if some guy sweeps in and takes them all out.”

“Who the hell could get the support of the slums?” Deer squinted. “No ’fence, Ruggie-kun. It’s just, some people there are nasty and just wanna see the world burn.”

“I can think of one or two who could convince everyone,” Ruggie muttered. “Still, creating a country isn’t something anyone can do. You need to have all sorts of knowledge about how running a country works.”

Yuu flipped a few pages and started to draw out a diagram on her notebook. “So really difficult if possible,” she muttered. “How strong is the king right now? Do you think it’d be feasible to pressure him to give up the throne?”

“Are you kidding me? The Savannah’s hierarchy is based more or less on the same rules around here,” Leopard explained, “Strong live, weak die. The king can wipe the floor with pretty much everyone on the planet.”

“Even if he gives up the throne, he’s got a little heir,” Deer said thoughtfully. “How old was the crown prince this year? Seven?”

“Five, I think.”

“Already!?”

Another variable. “Can’t hurt the kid,” Yuu muttered. For now. “Umm…you don’t think the current king is figurehead material?”

“Nah. He’s done a lot to revolutionize the way society is run.” Leopard gave up being surprised and willingly rode along with her topic.

“Not enough, I say,” Ruggie scoffed.

“Here come Ruggie’s ‘I hate all authority’ spiel again,” Leopard teased him.

“People at the top dress up all clean, but they have both feet buried in dead bodies,” Ruggie sneered. “The monarchy should go eat shit for all I care.”

Yuu whistled. “And they told me to hold my tongue.”

As expected of a puzzle Leona had laid out, intentionally or not, the solution did not come easily. Yuu scratched out notes between half-heartedly working on her assignments as she debated with those who remained in the kitchen. Perhaps infected by her enthusiasm, the lively discussion lasted through dinner. Yuu made omurice again at Ruggie’s behest—“That stuff tastes divine, you’ll see,” he’d insisted to the interested—and they gathered in the lounge afterwards, still talking over the finer points as they nursed full stomachs.

After grilling anyone who would allow it for information on Afterglow Savannah’s royal line, Yuu had determined that the best way for the second prince to achieve a king’s position (without becoming a murderer) was for him to start his own kingdom altogether. Or perhaps marry into another royal family and become that country’s king, but with how much people hated him, that option was hard to consider. Effectively, the second prince was an early Claudius before he’d murdered Hamlet’s father; starting a coup right now would be suicide with an heir already in line for the throne.

There were too many things she didn’t know about the second prince other than the fact that he was hated. If he still liked his brother and nephew then it wasn’t like he would kill them in the first place.

“But starting a new country _within_ the Savannah is probably the same thing as picking a fight with the king,” Yuu squinted, “so it’s better to just start a kingdom somewhere else. Is there unclaimed land in this world?”

“What is Trein assigning first-years these days?” Ruggie, who had gotten bored, fiddled with his glove as they sprawled across the walkway by the river pool.

“This is a personal project,” Yuu explained, dipping her toes into the water, “A puzzle. I was given the terms that the country’s second prince couldn’t be king, but there has to be a way, right?”

A bunch of Therianthropes who were gathered near their relaxing spot crowded around her. “You think so too?” one of them said eagerly. “That’s what we said.”

Yuu blinked at them in surprise.

“This year’s Magift tourney is just the beginning,” another one nodded eagerly. “First we’re gonna take NRC, then the country, then the world.”

Ruggie laughed. “You think even a hyena like me will get some spoils?”

None of them noticed the way Yuu went unnaturally still. The way they were talking…

“I’d follow him wherever he goes,” she heard distantly. “Out of the country, out of school, wherever.”

“I always thought his brother just didn’t get it. It doesn’t make sense that you get to be king ‘cause you popped out of momma’s tummy a few years in advance.”

“Senpai is so much more talented.”

All of the puzzle pieces clicked into her head at once. The reason he’d worn that look of exhausted defeat. Giving up before he even started. Interest in chess, his rapt attention when she’d spun him the tale of Hamlet, the way his words were unusually well chosen. The reluctant respect in his voice when he spoke of the king. Ruggie’s deference.

“Yuu-kun?” Ruggie blinked up at her as she struggled to her feet with her crutch. “Where are you going?”

“I’ll be back in a sec,” Yuu called back absently, swinging towards the door. “You guys keep on keeping on.”

“What’s with the kid?” she heard, but Yuu focused on moving faster up the walkways that curved up and up and around to Leona’s lushly curtained door.

He’d told her everything and nothing at the same time.

Yuu stumbled into Leona’s room in a rush without bothering to knock, notebook and pencil still tucked under her arm. Fortunately, he was present; Leona had a thick tome opened up in his nest of pillows, absently playing solo chess with his free hand as he flipped a page.

At her clumsy entrance, he looked up in irritation, glare deepening further as he saw her. Yuu was gasping for breath and sweating from her trip up to the top floor. She ignored his displeasure and hopped awkwardly over to his bedside, dropping her crutch on the way.

“Now what,” he growled low in his throat. “Come to insult me again, herbivore? Just because you’re—”

Yuu flung her notebook and pencil into his face. “I want to punch you again,” she managed, catching her breath.

Leona fell comically on his back as the notebook smacked into his nose. “What the hell!?” his voice was muffled.

“I’m the one who should be saying that. First, you hide the fact that you’re Dorm Head,” Yuu rushed out as he peeled it from his face and squinted at the pages, “Now I have to figure it out all by myself that you’re fricking _royalty?_ Telling me about yourself, my _butt_.”

Leona flipped a page of her notebook, completely ignoring her.

Yuu collapsed on the edge of the bed, exhausted. “Hey, I won’t get beheaded if I punch you again, will I?” she asked when he didn’t respond. This guy was excellent at getting her angry.

“Did you write all this?” Leona said abruptly, turning her notebook around to show the diagrams she’d scribbled down earlier about starting a new kingdom.

“Who cares?” Yuu frowned at him irritably. “I told you I don’t like it when people deliberately keep information from me—”

“Herbivore.” The unexpectedly strong note of tension lining his voice stopped her in her tracks. Leona dragged her over beside him with his tail and asked again, “You wrote all this?”

“It wasn’t just me,” Yuu answered willingly, wondering why he looked so serious. “I asked around the dorm all day today, since I wanted to solve the challenge.”

“Challenge,” Leona repeated, starting to smile, “since when did I say it was a puzzle to be solved?”

“Assuming made an ass out of me,” Yuu admitted, “but I thought you were explaining why you kept looking like the world had ended, not actually telling me your life story.”

“And the first thing you do after finding out that I’m the second prince is…fling a book in my face,” Leona said dryly.

“What, is that a capital crime now?” Yuu asked him crossly.

He regarded her seriously, meeting her eyes for the first time. “I’m the direct line of the Kingscholar family,” he told her slowly. “Royalty. Don’t you think you should afford me some more respect, you low-class mutt? Try using the bit of matter between your ears for once.”

She searched his face. “Do you want me to?”

Leona blinked.

“I’m not from this world,” Yuu told him.

“I know.”

“I’m ignorant of your culture, your policies. Compared to you, I’m indeed barbaric and rustic. You have the right and the privilege to grind me into the dirt.” Yuu narrowed her eyes at him shrewdly. “But you didn’t tell me you were Dorm Head. You didn’t tell me you were the second prince for some reason. So I’m asking you, Leona-senpai, if you _want_ me to bow and scrape before you like your station demands.”

For a long moment, the two of them locked eyes, neither willing to look away first. Of course he had to be the second prince, too, Yuu complained to herself. This guy didn’t have enough problems on his plate already. But she couldn’t bring it in herself to change her attitude now that she knew—for some reason, Yuu knew if she began to behave formally, it would break something important.

It would be insulting to him.

Leona finally broke their staring contest. His voice was a little hoarse when he said, “Fair enough.”

Yuu leaned over her notebook together with him as they read through her notes. “I wasted my whole day on that,” she grumbled, “because I thought you were trying to tell me why it was easier to give up. Which, by the way, I still don’t agree with.”

“I can’t believe the way your mind works sometimes,” Leona shook his head, a reluctant smile spreading across his face. “…Starting a new country? You think I could do that?”

“I didn’t know who the second prince was, so I had my doubts.” Yuu grinned back. “But if it’s you? You could probably make it with a hand tied behind your back.”

“As if anyone would follow a prince everyone hates.”

“I have no idea where that mysterious low confidence in others comes from,” Yuu mumbled. “When you’re this charismatic, it’s harder _not_ to notice how powerful you are. Aren’t you a proud lion? Where’s that arrogance you usually wear? You’re too smart to pretend you don’t know how skilled you are in basically everything.”

Leona flicked her in the forehead. “That’s just ‘cause you haven’t seen my Unique Magic,” he said tiredly. “Your little plans look interesting, but they wouldn’t work with me in the slot of the second prince. After all, there isn’t a single Therianthrope who would follow me anywhere.”

—

Monday marked the ninth day of her stay at Savanaclaw. Yuu had not slept well the night before; she’d stayed up late talking with Leona about the chicken scratch she’d filled her notebook with. Yuu had protested her writing wasn’t _so_ messy, but when Leona started adding notes to hers, she took everything back. This man was a human typewriter.

Leona told her about how he’d had to study calligraphy when he was three, and that usually he wasn’t bothered to take notes anyway. Yuu asked him if he could teach her how to write better and got a weird look in return.

Nothing had changed now that she was aware of his identity—to be honest, Yuu didn’t really know what it meant to be a ‘prince’ of a country. The wizarding world was full of people who fussed over bloodlines, but she had grown up in a muggle society where the only royalty was treated more like celebrities on magazine covers. When she told this to Leona, he had snorted at her condescendingly through his nose and told her that was just about right for an ignorant herbivore. Yuu had guessed right—Leona really didn’t care for being treated like a prince—so apart from a few questions about the education he’d received in the palace, she didn’t bring it up.

Still, the problem ran far deeper than she expected. Yuu was just a fifteen-year-old muggle-raised witch. She wasn’t capable like Hermione Granger or heroic like Harry Potter, who had overcome trials and foiled the evil wizard Voldemort’s plans again and again by the time they were as old as she was. Yuu didn’t have what it took to overturn Leona Kingscholar’s deep resignation that stemmed from a lifetime of isolation, hatred, political plots that had crushed that spirit that Savanaclaw valued so highly. Sure, he was excellent at hiding it—but Leona wasn’t okay even as he planned with his dorm mates to trounce Diasomnia in next Sunday’s match.

She’d compared his situation to Hamlet’s Claudius. But Leona was _nothing_ like Claudius who sought power for power’s sake. She listened to him speak about his brother and knew Leona would not harm a hair on the king’s head. Even after everything, Yuu still thought Leona was loyal, maybe kind, though far from a ‘good person’. Perhaps it was that misplaced kindness that destroyed him. Rulers did not need such a quality.

Yuu felt the ‘anger’ she’d learned from Riddle stir in her chest. The last person on earth who should wear that worn-down look of defeat was Leona Kingscholar. But heavier than that was a painful squeeze in her chest that she’d known back when Yuu and Grim had gone riding with Trey and Riddle.

What would Riddle and Trey and Jamil say? What would Ace and Deuce think?

What would Grim say?

Technically, he was the culprit she was supposed to be enemies with, but it was far too late to hate Leona or Ruggie or any of the Savanaclaw students who wore their dreams in their eyes. Not when she could feel the emptiness in his stare reflecting her own memories.

Yuu dreamed briefly of Sxar’s rule from the first King of Lions movie and woke up in a cold sweat before dawn.

Her ankle was recovering nicely, despite her lack of care towards it; still, when she put pressure on her left foot, pain rocketed up her leg, so Yuu cleansed herself in Leona’s washroom quietly and went to sit in the darkened lounge still wielding her battered crutch.

The first touches of light were beginning to lighten the royal blue sky. Yuu shivered with the breeze as she sat on a lounge chair and pointedly refused to think it was the same colour as Grim’s fur.

She was just beginning to fall into an uneasy doze when movement caught her drooping eyes. Yuu lifted her head; Ruggie was limping into the lounge, holding a white box.

He had caught sight of her first and arranged his expression carefully. “…You’re up early.”

Yuu jerked upwards, insides going cold. “—Blood!”

Ruggie sighed, collapsing on the carpet near her chair. He shucked off the red-stained biker vest and wiped a trail of it from his chin. “…It’s not mine,” he said tiredly. “…Most of it, anyway. Leave me alone.”

But she couldn’t. Not Ruggie who stood alone in an entirely separate way from Leona. Who liked omurice and madeleines and disdained royalty but stared at Leona with the utmost respect. Who was cold and efficient and opportunistic and looked startlingly young when he smiled.

Yuu slid off the chair to the ground as he popped open the first aid box. “Let me,” she insisted. “Are you okay?”

In an apparently foul mood, he glared at her. “Leave me _alone_ , squirt,” he snapped, “I’m your damn enemy.”

Yuu was well aware that Ruggie Bucchi did not believe in altruism and disdained helping others out of the ‘goodness of one’s heart’. Perhaps due to his environment, the prettier something looked, the less he trusted it. And someone as competent as Ruggie didn’t need her to butt in. If she were in a better frame of mind, she would have let him be.

But Yuu’s head was a mess. Thinking about Grim made her chest hurt, thinking about Ace and Deuce made it hard to breathe, thinking about Leona was driving her out of her own mind.

The last straw fell when Ruggie pulled out his Pen to use and she saw the topaz-coloured jewel clouded with inky Blot.

Ruggie hadn’t been expecting her to tackle him. Yuu hadn’t been meaning to do it, either. Savanaclaw was bringing out all of the violent tendencies she never knew she had, but Yuu didn’t care right now. Ruggie’s back hit the carpet with a soft thump. His Magical Pen scattered over the fabric.

Up close, she was given a front seat to the way Ruggie’s pupils dilated in shock and then anger. “What the hell—”

“Ruggie-senpai you can’t use magic,” Yuu blurted out in a panic, taking a hold of his bony shoulders. She was unmindful of the dirt and blood that came off on her hands. “No more spells, you have to sleep.”

“Get off me,” Ruggie glared at her. “What on earth is a little cub like you thinking, tackling me? I might not be as big or overtly powerful as the kids around here, but hyenas can rip you to pieces easily.”

“I know you don’t trust me, and I know you think that it’s a joke that I’ve managed to survive this long in here,” Yuu steamrolled him.

His glare faltered. “—Huh!? I didn’t—”

“I won’t ask what you were doing or anything. But,” Yuu met his eyes earnestly, “Please at least let me distract myself by helping you patch yourself up. And don’t use magic anymore. There’s already enough Blot in your Pen.”

While she took the bottle of antiseptic and a roll of gauze from the first-aid box, Ruggie sat up and reached for his Pen. “Blot,” he repeated, narrowing his eyes shrewdly at her. “…That’s a pretty niche topic for a first-year like you to be talking about.”

“Niche?” Yuu repeated.

“First of all, what’s with the ‘to distract yourself’ thing?” To her relief, he tucked his pen into his jean pocket, flinging off his scarf carelessly. His clothes were dirty, but only the corner of his mouth was bleeding, and she could only see light bruising running up his arm.

Yuu grinned at him wryly as she motioned for him to stick out his arm. “It’s been a long week,” she said evasively.

Ruggie studied her before he extended his injured arm slowly. Yuu started to rub balm onto his bruises. “…Yuu-kun, you don’t seem like the kind of person who treats others’ wounds.”

“I’m not.” Yuu was worse than ‘bad’ at healing spells and taking care of others—after all, she’d only ever been by herself. “But like I said, I’m trying to distract myself from my own brain, and I’ve gotten a lot better at it lately.” She indicated her still-swollen face and ankle.

“Ah. You sure have it rough in this school, too,” Ruggie caught her meaning with a grimace. “I meant what I said last time about you looking like a starving kid in the slums who’s never known happiness, but I didn’t expect you to endure all the way ‘til now.”

“Really?” Yuu started to bandage his arm as a precaution. “I don’t think I did much, though.”

“That ‘not much’ earned your stripes here.” He let out a humourless laugh, the cool pre-dawn breeze stirring his hair. “It’s got to be partly because of how easy you are to talk to. Since you’re doing all this without any awareness, I don’t even wanna know what you could do if you knew how to use your charisma.”

Yuu gave him a confused stare as she neatly cut the bandage and clipped it together. “…Sure, whatever. Next is your face, senpai.”

“So what about the Blot?” Ruggie tilted his head to the side for her to dab at his torn mouth with alcohol. He didn’t flinch, but both ears turned towards her intently. “You looked the most panicked I’d ever seen you.”

“Oh…right.” Yuu hesitated.

“What. Something you can’t tell me?”

Like Leona, Ruggie was the kind of person to exploit every last little bit of advantage he could find in another. He was well aware of Yuu’s respect for him, and now Ruggie pressed his large ears close to his head and somehow managed to gaze up at her through his lashes pitifully despite being taller. The lost puppy effect was enhanced by his overall battered appearance, and even knowing he was doing it on purpose, her heart squeezed.

“This is how you survived, isn’t it,” Yuu commented weakly. “With that face that doesn’t resemble your insides at all.”

“ _Shi shi shi_. C’mon, Yuu-kun. Aren’t we friends?”

Even with all of his pushing her away, Ruggie had told her about his home. About his grandmother, about how he had grown up having to fend for himself. About the few children who chased him around when he went back for holidays. Yuu knew he wasn’t the kind of person to hold that over her head, but she still felt it was only right for her to return the favour.

“Don’t tell anyone,” she cautioned him before explaining Riddle’s Overblot and its consequences to him.

The beginnings of dawn brightened the lounge by the time she had finished her story, taping the corner of his mouth carefully. Ruggie absorbed information quickly, dusting the dirt from his long shirt, but he still whistled lowly when she finished.

“…I take it back,” he said dryly. “Even without being aware, you sure know how to get yourself mixed up in dangerous situations. Should I feel sorry for you?”

“No?” Yuu frowned at him. “My point is, you should care more about yourself. I know that you’d do anything for a reward, and I know how ambitious you are, but overdoing it is going to hurt you one day.”

“Please, I don’t need a magicless runt like you to tell me something I know far better than you,” Ruggie scoffed. “What. You’re _worried_ about me or something? Don’t make me laugh. Goody-two-shoes make me sick.”

“Okay, Mister I-Can-do-Everything,” Yuu rolled her eyes, “but I really never want to see anyone go through that again, so I’ll do whatever it takes for you to not use your magic until your Blot disappears. Seriously.”

Ruggie sighed. “You _really_ shouldn’t say things like ‘anything’ that easily, cub. It’ll land you in a hell of a lot of debt if you’re not careful.”

“But you won’t,” Yuu blinked back.

He gaped. “Huh?”

“You won’t go overboard. Right?” She grinned up at him. “Since you know what it’s like to be at the bottom. You would step on a dying animal to put it out of its misery, but I don’t see you finding so much joy in torturing helpless little weaklings like me.”

“I don’t know if I should be more surprised that you say stuff like that or that you’re right,” he said weakly.

In the end, Ruggie couldn’t shake her off—and it seemed that he’d lost his motivation to. Yuu liked his tendency to brush things off once he was done thinking about them; it was one quality that almost no other Savanaclaw students possessed.

She was just as eager to forget all about the problems crammed into her head, so she followed him to the kitchen without complaint while he got materials ready for Leona’s breakfast. Unlike Jamil’s artisan skill and Floyd’s insane recipes, Ruggie cooked in a utilitarian manner. Perhaps because he was taught by his grandmother, the flavour to his creations were always slightly faded and soft. Family food.

“No matter how hard I shove you away, you just don’t leave, do you?” he gave her a slightly irritated glance as she washed dishes beside him at the sink.

Yuu blinked. “You want me to leave?”

“No, I—” He caught himself.

“No?” she repeated.

Ruggie grumbled for a while. “That’s the rub, isn’t it? I wish you were easier to hate.”

“You don’t hate me!” Yuu dropped her dish with a clang into the sink.

“You thought I hated you!?” Ruggie spluttered.

Well… “I’m pretty easy to hate.”

“You have no fricking idea the way others see you, do you,” Ruggie said blankly. “You know what? I feel stupid just thinking around you. Do what you want, kid, but I’m going to take a nap.”

It was the first time she’d seen Ruggie skip school, but he did so without a shred of remorse. Yuu, who was serious about guarding him from an Overblot, followed him doggedly all the way up to the staircase after breakfast on her crutch until he lost patience with her stumbling and hauled her up the stairs over his shoulder instead.

That he even let her into his room was probably a huge step forward, Yuu thought, and didn’t complain.

Ruggie had apparently pulled an all-nighter. Yuu was almost positive it was on another one of the missions assigned to him by Leona—judging by the bruising, it had not gone perfectly—but thinking about that made her want to punch that stupid second prince again, so she desisted. Instead she sat on the foot of his bed, patterned like a spotted hyena’s mottled back, as he showered and came back in spotted beige pyjamas. The smudges under his eyes stood out in high contrast.

“Cute,” she remarked with a grin, indicating his clothing.

“Shut it. They’re functional.”

“Did your grandmother make them for you?”

“Do you want me to bite you to pieces?”

Ruggie got grumpy when he was tired; his scrunched-up face looked almost comically annoyed. Yuu was just happy he was taking her advice to rest, and was content to look around his room as he flung himself on the double bed, burrowed under the covers, and shut his eyes.

“…Worrying about others when you look like you’re gonna die…” Ruggie mumbled sleepily in her direction.

Yuu blinked over at him. “Huh?”

But she received no response. Ruggie’s breathing slowed and deepened as he turned around so his back faced her. Yuu crossed her legs at his bedside and found herself thinking about how black Riddle’s Pen had been before he began to drip ink…

She couldn’t let that happen again. Not to Ruggie.

“Huh,” Yuu emitted into the empty room. “He _is_ my friend.”

Somehow, despite that attitude, Yuu had gone beyond respect if she was so fond of Ruggie that she was willing to stick to him all day.

—

“…ey. Hey! Yuu-kun, you’re heavy.”

“Grim,” Yuu mumbled, “later.”

“Not later! Off. I’m sleeping.”

Yuu reached forwards to pet Grim—her sure-fire way of calming him when he struggled in her grip. Her fingers met unbelievably soft velvet ears, each one almost as big as her hand. Did Grim’s ears grow when she wasn’t looking?

A low, rough grumble emitted from whatever possessed those ears. Yuu decided she was dreaming. Grim purred like a cat. Whatever this magical creature was, it made much louder noises as it pressed its ears to her fingers. Sort of like a very low-pitched bugle accompanied the growling…playful growling?

Norberta?

“Good girl,” Yuu said sleepily, smiling.

In retaliation, the magical creature bit one of her hands. Yuu didn’t react. It was a common way for them to show affection if they didn’t break the skin. Yuu had long since grown used to dragons’ rather painful play-biting; one of Norberta’s babies had left a tooth-shaped scar that was still white on the inside of her wrist when he’d forgotten his self-control.

Compared to a dragon, this dream creature was a lot gentler. Even if it was slightly uncomfortable, Yuu started to drift off again until the teeth clamped around her pinkie finger tightened in surprise.

A sharp burst of pain jolted her awake—Yuu yelped and jerked backwards, head hitting the mattress with a bounce of springs. Through bleary vision she made out Ruggie’s wide blue-grey eyes and his teeth clamped around her hand as he fell over her with the momentum.

Yuu rubbed the sleep from her eyes frantically. “What the heck?!”

Her voice broke whatever had frozen him in place. Ruggie opened his jaw and released her left hand; when she clutched it back to her chest, there was a visible set of darkening teeth marks engraved in the pinkie.

Ruggie also seemed out of sorts; he looked dazed, as if he’d just woken up. “Yuu-kun,” he managed, “where the hell did you learn that?”

“Learn what?” Yuu shook her painful hand out. “What the heck did you bite me for?”

“The whole…ear…thing,” he pointed at his own, both of which were pressed close to his head. “Are you like an aesthetician or something!?”

“Ear thing?” Yuu repeated confusedly, still disoriented. “You want me to rub your ears or something?”

“No! Well…” Ruggie clutched his hair. “Argh! What the hell are you doing falling asleep right in front of me? Hyenas aren’t choosy about their prey, you know?”

“You fell asleep first!” Yuu spluttered.

“We wake a lot faster than humans do!” Ruggie shot back, his ears flapping furiously.

Yuu stared at them as she pushed herself upright and remembered her dream. “I didn’t know your ears could do that.”

“This is all your fault,” Ruggie was saying, glaring into her face, “I don’t know what rules about Therianthropes you know but…”

“Hey Ruggie-senpai,” Yuu yawned, “Can I touch your ears?”

“Listen to me when I talk!”

Later on, Yuu would make the excuse that she was still sleep-addled enough to forget her manners. Ruggie would grumble something about her having the magic touch. But she missed Grim and those ears looked adorable and so before even receiving permission, she’d reached forwards to pat them, ignoring his protesting.

Some time later, Yuu finally snapped out of her half-asleep stupor with a gasp. What the hell had she just been doing?

Slowly, she looked down, only to be faced with the two dark brown velvet ears attached to Ruggie’s head of dirty blond hair. He was half collapsed in the space between her neck and shoulder, catatonic and making some version of a purr (?) that rumbled in his throat. Up close, the brown that patterned the top of his blond hair was visibly dappled like a spotted hyena’s fur.

Yuu suppressed a swear. She hadn’t meant to! “I didn’t mean to!” she blurted out. Surely it was rude for a random person to start petting a Therianthrope’s ears.

Ruggie didn’t bother to respond more than attaching his teeth into the arm closest to him, making her flinch.

She had thought he was going to rip her apart at the flesh—that maybe she’d really pissed him off this time—but instead he chewed at her skin like he was teething. It didn’t hurt as much as it tickled. Was he _play-biting?_

“Oh no.” Yuu muttered in horror. “I broke him.”

“Hurry up and scratch,” he slurred against her skin.

Yuu obliged him and scratched. She decided that thinking about the specifics of Therianthropes versus human versus animal was too hard. Hyenas were social creatures, right? They didn’t really mind it when other people petted them…right?

Her fingers cramped, so Yuu gave it a break after a while. Secretly, she was a little relieved that there was warmth against her skin right now. Since she’d entered Savanaclaw, the lack of Grim at her neck, of Ace and Deuce pressed in at her shoulders had been a bigger loss than she’d expected. She wasn’t good enough friends with anyone from Savanaclaw to hang onto them.

Ruggie was warm, though. Plus she liked him, even if he thought of her as nothing more than a possible asset. And his ears were ridiculously soft.

“You’re frickin’ _scary_ , you know that?” he grumbled around her lower arm.

“I’m sorry,” Yuu said sheepishly. “I like animals and I was half-asleep.”

“Not that, though you shouldn’t touch the ears or tail of a Therianthrope unless you’re familiar with them.” Ruggie released her arm briefly. “Are you seriously an animal trainer or something? I’ve never seen anyone this good at scratching.”

“Not really. I just like mag…creatures,” Yuu shrugged, “I had a part-time job? Internship? Taking care of them last year. That’s all.”

“Serious animal trainer,” Ruggie sighed before finally retracting his sharp teeth, making a strange expression. To her relief, he had not drawn blood. “…You taste weird, kid.”

“I’m sure I’m not delicious at all,” Yuu squeaked, edging away. “Do Therianthropes _eat_ people?”

“Not _that_. It’s…” Ruggie paused. “…Nah…no way. Anyway, you should really be careful touching other peoples’ ears. They’ll get really mad.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay since it’s me.”

“It is?” Yuu gaped at him.

Ruggie straightened and stretched luxuriously, regaining his mischievous smile. “Thanks to that, I feel like I’ve gone through one of those expensive spas. You’ve got magic fingers or something.”

“If it helps with Blot elimination, I’ll do it again,” Yuu offered, “plus your ears are _really_ nice.”

“Well, my fur isn’t as high-grade as Leona-san’s, but I’ll take it.” Ruggie rolled his eyes at her exasperatedly. “…I really can’t win over you, can I?”

“Win?” Had they been playing a game?

“Stupid animal tamer,” he ruffled her hair. “I _guess_ I see why Leona-san took a shine to you. Even though you’ve got this practical streak in you, you’re still…”

“Still…?” Yuu repeated, a little concerned. Ruggie seemed to be cutting himself off more often lately.

He shook his head. “…Secret. Anyway, it’s past noon. What do you want to eat for lunch?”

Yuu took the crutch he tossed at her and struggled to her feet. “Man, we slept for a long time. Lunch already? How about meat?”

“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” Ruggie laughed.

—

“I knew I hated you,” Yuu spat out the next day. “I take back everything I said. Put me down or else I’ll rip those decorations on your head off.”

“Whoa, kid,” Leopard laughed, “I feel like you’re becoming more Savana with each passing day. Anyway, it’s in your best interest not to struggle. I might not look it, but I’m really good at catching things that run.”

Lifting her arms that were dangling down over the shoulder she was being carried on, Yuu pounded futilely at his back. “Why,” she moaned. “Why have you betrayed me? Ruggie Bucchi-senpai!”

“Shishishi.” As if in answer, Ruggie zoomed past her at eye-level on a broom. “Can’t have you thinking you’re on top for too long, kid.”

“It’ll be fun!” she heard Giraffe say cheerfully from above her. “Plus, you can just watch while we warm up, since you can’t fly alone.”

The weather today was criminally bright and warm for the end of October. Accordingly, almost all of Savanaclaw had skipped school to roll around in the plains surrounding the dorm, hang from the sparse trees, and most importantly, play Magift. Unfortunately for Yuu, this meant that she was ‘highly encouraged’ to play with them.

Ruggie had snatched her crutch while she was finishing lunch, tipping her off—but Yuu was helpless before a nest full of predators. Her pitiful struggle to leave was cut short by Leopard, who was in the process of carrying her out to the Magift field she’d circled with Leona the other day. Around them, the more enthusiastic players zoomed past in the air, some dangling from their brooms, some lying horizontally across them in a feat of balance. Ruggie himself was hanging upside down from the handle with his feet hooked precariously over it, looking completely in his element.

Yuu moaned, “You guys are _insane_.”

“That a compliment?” Leopard plucked her off his shoulder.

“Do you think it’s a compliment?” she retaliated.

To her horror, Leopard exposed his teeth in a grin and _threw her_ into the air forcefully. Yuu let out a pathetic squeak before Jackal, who was passing by low to the ground, scooped her up by her stomach and soared over the stairs.

Yuu hung on to his arm tightly. “I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die.”

“Don’t be such a wuss!” Jackal laughed. “Oi, someone close to the stands catch him!”

She went airborne again. Yuu’s breath caught in her throat as she made the mistake of looking down—too far, that was _too far from the ground_ —until Lynx zoomed in from the side, sitting on his broom like a swing, to catch her on his lap easily. “Got him!” he called. “Man, he really is light.”

Yuu thought that today was a terrible day to die and started to form her will as he threw her at Giraffe.

Eventually someone took mercy on her and dropped her onto the stands facing the pitch. Yuu’s legs were jelly at this point. She clutched at the bench she sat on and pointed her middle finger at them vehemently. “You’re all a bunch of bullies.”

“It took you that long to figure it out?” laughed Aardvark, passing by gracefully on his broom.

Someone had set a huge vat of water bottles chilling in ice on the stands by where she was sitting. A basket of towels lay beside it for the players, though Yuu thought that the wind would be more than effective to whip away their sweat. She gulped at a bottle of water, regaining her bearings, and watched idly, counting over forty players on brooms. All of them looked utterly within their element in a way that _almost_ made her jealous.

As she was watching, Jack Howl drifted over into her vision. Yuu caught sight of him and waved. Jack gaped at her briefly before zooming in her direction so quickly she nearly fell out of her seat.

“Directing Student!” He hovered by her gruffly. “You’re alive.”

“I am,” she returned bemusedly. Yuu lowered her voice. “How’s the whole plan proceeding?”

“Everything’s in place,” Jack nodded once before he shook his whitish grey head. “That’s not it. What are you doing here?”

“I’m being bullied,” Yuu said cheerfully, lifting her voice. “They all suck.”

“I can hear you!” bellowed Round Ears from across the pitch.

“Shut up, you big jerk!” she shouted back. “Stop using your better senses to spy on me! Pick on someone your own size!”

He laughed as he spun circles through the air in a somersault. “Don’t make me go over there and pick you up again!”

Yuu sucked in a breath—she wouldn’t put it past any of them. Even as they watched, Deer had turned in her direction and seemed to be making his way over. “Listen, Jack,” she said urgently, “ _Please_ do me a favour and let me ride behind you or in front of you or something.”

“Huh? Why should I…” Jack frowned, glancing between her and the field in confusion. “More importantly, what do you mean, being bullied?”

“These morons picked me up and flung me between them so much that I almost died,” Yuu explained earnestly. “You’re my only hope in this place. I’ll make you something to eat later. Please?”

“…Are you afraid of heights?”

“So what if I am!?”

“All right.” Jack sighed and landed lightly by her. “Just this once, though, and I’m not doing it for you. It’s just more trouble to see you die in front of me and not do anything.”

Yuu thought Jack was an angel in this place of devils.

Because of his huge fluffy tail, Yuu couldn’t ride behind him without being pushed off the end, so she climbed on in front of him gingerly. Jack kicked off with practiced ease and looped them back onto the pitch. “Hey, Directing Student,” he muttered, “You look like you went through a blender while I was gone. What happened to your face?”

She’d forgotten about the bandage. “Nothing really, we just had a misunderstanding,” she shrugged.

“…I told you to be careful.”

“Don’t worry,” Yuu craned her neck back to smile at him, “I dealt with it.”

Jack looked ready to say something, but instead he swerved to avoid Aardvark, who had come in with an arm out, aiming to snatch her from the broom.

“C’mon, Jack! Lend the kid to me for a second!”

Jack paused, thick brows furrowing low over his amber eyes. “…What are you doing with the Directing Student?”

Aardvark ignored his bristling. “Just some harmless fun. Right, Yuu-chan?”

“Yuu-chan?” Jack repeated to himself.

“Harmless?” Yuu’s voice rose shrilly. “I nearly frickin’ died ten times!”

“We woulda caught you!” Giraffe laughed.

Ruggie expertly manoeuvred himself through a gap to rise up beside them. “Hey, Jack-kun, toss Yuu-kun over here.”

“Ruggie-senpai.” Jack reflexively picked her up and threw her. As he was the largest person she’d ever seen, it was an effortless movement.

“Jack!?” Yuu yelped before Ruggie caught her deftly.

“—Whoops.” Jack winced, lowering his arms. “I’m used to listening to Ruggie-senpai. Sorry, kid.”

“ _Shi shi shi_. It’s a good thing to be obedient, first year.” Ruggie cleared his throat. “Okay, you lot! The match starts with teams A and B, winner takes team C and so on! Today we don’t have a disc, so your Yuu-chan has gracefully volunteered to be Disc Substitute in its place!”

A great cheer rose around the field, echoing across and under the bleachers.

Yuu spluttered. “I didn’t volunteer for anything!”

“Leona-san’s on Team F and he should be showing up in two hours or so,” Ruggie explained over her protests. “Each scrimmage is gonna last one quarter, so twenty or so minutes. If Yuu-kun gets harmed, the team is disqualified immediately! Got it?”

“What about everyone else?” someone called over to him.

“If any of _you_ are stupid enough to be injured four days before the big game, you deserve to be,” Ruggie said carelessly. “Leona-san said whoever manages to score a point against him will get a really expensive chunk of meat, so get pumped!”

Once again, the field burst into cheers. Yuu stared with dead eyes across at Jack, who looked as confused as his resting glare allowed, and prepared herself for a gruelling afternoon.

For all their postulating, Savanaclaw really was good at Magift. They made the silly one-on-one game Yuu had played with Grim look like a baby’s first steps. As a rule, none of them ran, only flew—some Therianthropes were extremely skilled on the ground, so it was a small equalizer to bring them all in the air. Ruggie explained while he loop-de-looped over several pursuers that he was one of the better runners, so it was mostly because of him that the rule was created. During actual matches, though, parkour was fair game.

Since she was nothing more than dead weight, Yuu managed to get used to the idea of being flung into the air rather quickly. Even with her fear of heights, the fact that she was pressed close to someone at all times made the experience more bearable—and Yuu was nothing if not adaptable. Even with the bursts of magic flashing past her and zapping into the ground hard enough to leave craters, Yuu found that after the fifth game, she was starting to have _fun_.

Or perhaps she’d just gone over the edge of sanity. Humans dealt with fear in strange ways.

Jack, who was on Team E, was the strongest power forward—Chaser—whatever it was called—that she’d seen thus far. He kept possession of her almost exclusively through the first half of the game, which was met with general booing from the other team. Yuu, tucked under one arm like a football, muttered instructions to him in a low voice so that he avoided any spells coming his way.

“…You sure got used to this fast,” Jack said, eyes focused forwards. There was a feral smile in his voice.

“It beats living in constant fear all the time,” Yuu shrugged. “And you’re pretty strong.” Her voice was pointed, referring to the vicious sweep he’d just executed that had nearly knocked his opponent clean off the broom. When he was flying, Jack seemed to lose whatever was keeping him stable.

“Shut up,” Jack grumbled, “I’m just holding on to you ‘cause I gave you up to Ruggie-senpai last time. And anyone would get this strong if they trained properly.”

Yuu opened her mouth to protest and then closed it. His big fluffy tail was whacking her in the side as it waved furiously back and forth. It was an almost hilarious dichotomy, since his face was still in its ferocious glare.

“Jack,” she said, “never change.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Yuu glanced under her. “Can I pet your ears?”

“ _Huh!?_ ”

Jack dropped suddenly, shocked as she reached for his head, so that Leopard and Lynx zoomed past over them in a rush. Yuu breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, there’s no one behind you so take me to the goal.”

He glanced at the two cursing players from the opposite team and shook his head with a small grin. “You fit right in, Directing Student. Hold on tight.”

Eventually Ruggie caught up with them—he had been the MVP on Team A that, along with Leopard, had clean-swept teams B, C and D in a row. Yuu kept a careful eye on the Magical Pen tucked into his chest pocket, but its Blot was almost all gone, leaving the sparkling topaz barely marred even as he cast _Laugh with Me_ on Jack to get him to toss her over.

Yuu waved forlornly at Jack as Ruggie carried her through the hoop that made the goal and his team cheered. “And we win!”

Team A cheered as Team E crowded around Jack, patting him on the back for a job well done. Even the outcast was celebrated when he made so many good moves in a game, Yuu nodded with satisfaction. Leopard, Lynx and Ruggie carried her around the pitch in a victory lap, passing her back and forth with practiced ease.

“It’s scary how humans adapt to situations,” Yuu said blankly, staring up at the sky as she landed in Ruggie’s arms.

“Yeah, to be honest there aren’t a lot of people who’d be as okay with getting flung around as you,” the hyena nodded. “But it’s fun, isn’t it?”

Yuu looked up at him and the sun lighting his grey eyes with the sky. “You like it here, senpai?”

“What brought this on?” Ruggie nodded easily enough. “Sure I like it here. It’s a tough world, but this school isn’t so bad. Don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” she smiled back, “yeah, it’s not so bad.”

Ruggie wrinkled his brow as he peered into her face. “…I really can’t believe that you’re so small,” he muttered, “I could break your bones so easily.”

“Oi, Ruggie! Stop making eyes at Yuu-chan and toss him over already!” Leopard called.

“You’re just jealous Yuu-kun likes me better!” Ruggie called back, bracing her against the broom.

Yuu let herself fly across the sky like a ragdoll, holding her breath as she fell towards Leopard’s outstretched arms—until a blur shot through the air before him and scooped her up.

She yelped and inhaled the sandalwood-and-sun fragrance that matched the expensive-smelling pillows in the Dorm Head’s room. “What the!?”

“What the hell are you morons doing?” Leona growled over her head. He was standing on his broom without any trouble balancing as he made a loop and returned to the team. “I told you not to mess with the hostage.”

To her surprise, he shoved her head into his shoulder to drown out her vision. Leona sounded _angry._

“We were just playing,” Ruggie hastily sped over, “and Yuu-kun was having fun too. Right, Yuu-kun?”

“Senpai are you _fricking standing_ on your broom?!” Yuu spluttered, trying to worm her way out of his shoulder so she could see. “How do you even do that!?”

Leona switched her to sit on his arm, frowning. “…They weren’t messing with you?”

“Nope. Well yeah, but it’s fine. I’m the Magical Shift disc for a day, apparently.” Yuu grinned and made a peace sign. “I heard you’re Team F, right, senpai? Team A’s knocked every other one out of the park so they’re up against you.”

For a second, he stared at her. Today, Leona was dressed in NRC’s athletic apparel for once, his rich brown hair tied back in a ponytail to expose the artistic curve of his jaw. The Dorm Head snorted, losing the tightness around his eyes, and wiped her bangs back from her face. “You look like you went through a cyclone.”

“I got tossed around a bit.” Yuu let him fuss over her hair briefly.

Leona raised his voice. “Team F!”

Six players on brooms rose from the stands to gather around him, answering in a roar.

A vicious light glowed in his emerald eyes. Up close, she could see the way his vertically slit pupils narrowed as they faced the sun. “You heard the herbivore. A’s wiped the floor until now. Are we gonna let ‘em continue?”

“Like hell!”

“All right.” Leona bared his teeth in a savage grin. “This match, Team A isn’t getting a single point past us! Got it, you bastards?”

The roar was louder this time.

“Aw, man,” Ruggie said weakly, “we lit a fire under Leona-san’s butt.”

“I can take him,” Leopard rolled his neck eagerly. “Yuu-chan, don’t worry! We’ll save you from the big bad guy!”

“Ha,” Leona snorted through his nose at him, “you can try.”

Yuu watched his eyes narrow in good humour and thought that Savanaclaw should always look like this. In the centre of a crowd of students gathered around him, Leona emitted light and charisma; he was in his element, utterly confident of victory. It was the very opposite of that defeated look he had worn two nights ago when he told her no one would follow him anywhere.

You’re wrong, Yuu thought. Look at how many people love you.

As they soared over the pitch, she thought she saw his Pen wink grey. But Leona’s Magift strategy involved moving faster than should be legal, and hanging desperately onto his arm, Yuu’s worry faded into laughter as the wind whipped into their faces.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
>  **Edited |** December 31st, 2020 for grammar, spelling, and minor details.
> 
> —
> 
> **Definitions |**
> 
> _rock-scissors-paper (punch) (じゃん拳ぽん, jankenpon)_ | I know that in western cultures they call it rock-paper-scissors, but in Japan, people refer to it as rock-scissors-paper, okay!? Also, the version the Savanaclaw students talk about involves those who “win” the match of rock-scissors-paper being given the chance to [“attack”/punch/hit](https://youtu.be/SdsF_fkfyC4?t=47) the other party. Of course they couldn’t even play a simple game without introducing violence…
> 
>  _banzai (万歳)_ | literally ‘live ten-thousand years!’ and a cheer for an authority or maybe something that’s given one a lot of benefit. Savanaclaw students, for all of their violence, quite love their Dorm Head.
> 
> —
> 
> We completed NaNoWriMo! Over 62,000/50,000 words with this chapter. Another big one is coming on Rook’s birthday—December 2nd! Please look forward to it.
> 
> Thank you as always for reading, subscribing, clicking the ‘kudos’ button and bookmarking. I would love to hear your kind comments again…please? 🥺
> 
> —


	12. Number One.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuu gets into a fight with Leona. Twice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
> Happy Birthday, Rook! 🏹 The way you discover beauty in everything makes the world brighter. ボーテ！💯点！
> 
> —
> 
> Sorry about the length of this chapter in advance. It's, um, kind of long. I couldn't stop!!! Please enjoy.
> 
> —

—

Playing chess against Leona had become a daily habit. Despite having missed almost two weeks of school, Yuu felt her brain stretching as she squinted fiercely across the board Thursday after lunch, clutching the pillow she liked the most while Leona yawned and drifted in and out of wakefulness across her.

The Magift tournament was Sunday, and both of them were aware that she wasn’t going to be here for much longer. But he never mentioned it, only ever dragged her over to play chess and converse. So Yuu sat on her growing discontent and moved the pieces. Ruggie joined them sometimes, but he disdained it as a hobby for people with enough time and money to waste. It wasn’t in his nature to sit around when he could be doing something that, in his words, could ‘fill his stomach’.

Yuu moved her knight. “Check!” she said triumphantly.

Leona cracked his scarred eye open briefly, scanning the board. “…Not bad,” he admitted after a moment, tipping his king to the side to move it from harm’s way.

“If you’re tired, you can nap for a while,” Yuu offered as his eye drifted shut again. “I wanna read that book about the Savannah’s history you were reading last time.”

“I’ve slept enough.” Leona pushed himself off his side to lean against the headboard, pressing one glove to his mouth to hide a second yawn in an elegant movement that betrayed his upbringing. “You started reading _that_? It’s boring as hell.”

“Not really. I don’t know anything about _your_ kingdom.” Yuu explained. “It’s really different from the Kingdom of Roses, which the Queen of Hearts used to rule. Plenty interesting.”

“It’s not my kingdom,” he snapped.

“It’s as much yours as it is anyone else’s.” Yuu shrugged. “Well, if you don’t want it, we can work on finding a different one.”

“Ha…” Leona reached over to the desk by his bed and tossed her the thick hardcover. Yuu eagerly received it. “Find a different one, indeed. Only you’d say that so easily.”

“It’s the logical solution,” Yuu tapped the cover with a grin. “You’re the one not satisfied with your position. So isn’t it better to change it?”

“A child’s silly words.” Leona waved at the chessboard, motioning her forwards for another turn.

Yuu put the book down and squinted at the board for a moment. “…Wait, you just moved your king a space.”

“So what?”

Yuu glared at him. “You threw the game! I can checkmate you now and you knew it!”

“Huh…” Leona lifted a brow, “you’re learning faster than I expected if you can read that far ahead.”

“The _problem_ is you could’ve done other moves,” Yuu frowned. “Are you throwing because you think I suck?”

“ _You_ could’ve chosen a different move that would’ve put your knight in danger,” he argued back. “I didn’t necessarily throw.”

She knew better. Once again, Leona was giving up ahead of time. Yuu had seen this pattern in him when he spoke of the king—when he talked about the Magift tournament. She wanted to scold him, but Yuu was the same as Leona. The same. Given up far ahead of time to protect herself, to hide. She couldn’t open her mouth.

“Checkmate,” Yuu managed after a moment, taking his queen.

Leona wasn’t paying attention to the board anymore. Instead he was staring at the book laid beside her injured ankle, at the bandages that covered the healing limb. “Herbivore,” he said absently. “What would you do if you had a kingdom?”

“Me?” Yuu lifted both eyebrows. Leona was apt to toss her topics such as these, so she was becoming used to the sudden questions he’d ask. “I told you I came from a parliamentary government, right? No one _owns_ a kingdom these days in my world. That I know of.”

“Humour me,” he persisted.

Yuu scratched her head. “I really don’t have much of an imagination,” she muttered, but obliged him and thought about it. Still, Yuu had no need or want for a heap of troubles that marked a kingdom. She’d watched enough movies and television shows that showed what happened to a monarch, good or bad. History told her more gruesome stories of what befell them. Being responsible for so many people as its authority was a responsibility she was not prepared to handle.

In this way, Leona was a much better candidate for king than she was. He instinctively knew how to take care of his dorm students; he’d changed Savanaclaw from the inside. And most importantly—everyone loved him to pieces. That charisma was not something one could learn.

Yuu clapped her hands once in realization. “I don’t need it,” she said cheerfully, “so I’d just give it to you instead. There’s my answer.”

He stared at her as if she were insane. “You can’t just give a kingdom away.”

“Yeah, I can. It would probably be troublesome, but I can appoint you as my heir and then abdicate or whatever…or I could pretend to be king while making you king instead.” Yuu grinned mischievously at him. “There are any number of ways to achieve a goal. You taught me that, right?”

Leona scoffed. “It isn’t that simple to pass a throne onto someone else,” he shook his head. “And with a king like me, it wouldn’t take long for someone else to come along and snatch it away.”

Yuu frowned. “You’re wrong,” she told him, “you’d be a great ruler. I guarantee it.”

“You can only say that because you don’t know.” Leona stared down at his hands before clenching them. “…How dangerous I am.”

—

 **CHAPTER TWELVE |** **Number One**

—

Due to her lack of social exposure, Yuu had never been forced to deal with conflict before she escaped it. Now, there was nowhere to go. She didn’t know how to get rid of this roiling vat of emotions in her stomach as they heated and heated to boiling point. Eventually, just looking at Leona Kingscholar made her angry.

In her state, it was almost suicide to be hanging around the source of her confusion—but she wasn’t experienced enough to avoid Leona, and in the same way she desperately wanted him to lose that defeated stare, she also found it impossible to leave him alone.

Leona himself was never good-tempered. It was he who started the fight in the late afternoon as clouds gathered densely in the sky.

When she thought about it later, Yuu would laugh at how trivial his words had been—she didn’t even remember what it was that set her off. Normally, Leona’s casual insults were brushed past with ease, since she knew he didn’t mean them seriously. It was a testament to how out of sorts she was that Yuu snapped back, “I don’t see you doing anything useful around here.”

His tail, which had been slowly thumping against her shoulder, went still. “ _Aah_?” Leona growled lowly.

“At least go to class or something,” she grumbled, looking up from her notebook where she’d been filling in a more detailed plan for his potential kingdom building, her letters thin beside his bold writing. “Does no one care back home that you’ve repeated your third year twice so far?”

She’d struck a nerve. His tail whipped her painfully across the shoulder blades. “Herbivores who don’t understand what they’re saying should shut their mouths,” he warned her, baring one fang.

“Well?” she held the notebook up irritably. “At least tell me what the laws are in your country for leaving it with a political group. Otherwise I can’t keep going with the plan.”

“I told you it’s impossible.” Leona growled low in his throat, tension stretching tight in the room. “You might be having fun playing around with ideas. But your games have nothing to do with me, so leave me out of it.”

“I’m not _playing around_ ,” Yuu shot back heatedly. She realized the truth of the statement as it fell from her lips. “Leona-senpai, I’m serious.”

“Serious? About what? You know nothing about this world,” he laughed humourlessly. “An ignorant child who can’t even keep her own emotions in check. And you want to…what…make me a _kingdom_?”

“I still don’t know the specifics,” Yuu pushed aside the chessboard to lean forwards earnestly, “but if it makes you stop with that exhausted look on your face, then I’ll do it. Whether it’s a coup, a bloodbath, fratricide, political upheaval…”

“I didn’t ask for your damn meddling,” he snapped, growling right into her face.

Yuu felt her hair stand on end. Still, she was too far gone to back down. “I’m sick of you giving up already,” she met his eyes fearlessly. “Just tell the truth—that you want to be king. But you’re just too much of a coward to take the prize right in front of your eyes.”

“Watch your tongue,” Leona snapped, fury brightening his emerald glare, “I’ll have it ripped out for disrespect.”

“That’s right, you’re just scared,” Yuu planted both hands on the mattress, smiling mockingly up at him. “Isn’t Savanaclaw supposed to be a house for the persevering, for those who _don’t_ give up? How the heck did you get to be Dorm Head when you’re like—!”

Leona tackled her off the bed with a half-growl, half-roar. With the adrenaline of a fight rushing through her blood, Yuu didn’t feel the pain of her back hitting the carpeted floor as they rolled. One heavy hand pressed against the space between her neck and collarbone in warning as the predator pinned her against the floor. “You don’t know _anything_.”

“I know that the you right in front of me is disappointing,” she shot back, voice slightly strained against the pressure of his fingers. “A leader who’s lost his indomitability. You won’t even admit to yourself that you want power? That you’re sick of being hated? Sick of being feared?”

“You know, herbivore,” Leona leaned in close almost amicably, his curtain of long brown hair hiding the world from view. She was given a close look at the way anger dilated his pupils as his mouth twisted in a wicked smile. “whatever I do, or wherever I go, it’s _none of your damn business_. Stay out of it.”

Yuu bit back, “No.”

“ _Aah?_ ”

“You should’ve never kidnapped me if you wanted me to stay out of it,” she choked out as his fingers tightened briefly. “Should’ve never shown me how you saved Savanaclaw. How you saved Ruggie-senpai.”

“I didn’t save _anything_.”

“Again with that nonsense. Everyone here loves you. Don’t they count as your loyal subjects already?”

“Shut up! It’s all meaningless anyway. It’s all temporary. In the end, they’ll abandon me.”

“You’re just trying to protect yourself by giving up!” Yuu fisted both hands in his collar and shook angrily. “Even when you have so much potential!”

That struck a nerve. Leona roared in her face, “I’m sick of hearing that line!”

Yuu froze as he punched the ground by her head. There was a wildness in those eyes previously absent and he wasn’t looking at her anymore.

“Sick of hearing it?” she muttered.

“You and that damn first year kid and Elder Brother,” Leona snarled, getting up in her face, “all of you need to shut up and leave me alone. You have no idea what I can do to you, herbivore. Don’t think that just because you’re a woman I won’t hurt you when you’ve committed an offence against me.”

“I’m not scared of you,” Yuu snorted.

“You say that now. When you see my Unique Magic, you’ll run away screaming your little head off like all the others.” Leona told her surely.

“Stop making excuses!” she snapped back. “You know because of your crazy demands, you almost drove Ruggie-senpai into magic overuse!”

“Who cares?” Leona said indifferently, “it’s his job and he’s getting a reward out of it. He knows the risks.”

Yuu saw red. She punched his shoulder. “Don’t talk about your friend like that!”

Leona exhaled out his nose in derision. “ _Friend_? What kind of gullible brain do you have? We’re not friends. I have no friends.”

“Like hell you aren’t. After all you did for him. After all he’s done for you! You know there’s a risk of being found out as the guy who’s committing all of these crimes,” Yuu snapped, “the Headmaster himself is after you guys! Ruggie-senpai knew the risks!”

“So?” Leona said, looking bored. “If he gets caught, he gets caught. It’d be his fault for leaving evidence.”

“You bastard,” Yuu snarled, “take it back!”

“It’s the same with the other kids,” Leona pinned her struggling figure easily, giving her a cold smile, “Savanaclaw is where the weak die, kid. The strong sacrifice them to keep living.”

“That’s not the kind of ruler you are!”

“Shut up!” He roared back. “You know nothing about me!”

“Stop treating other people like that! You’re gonna really do something you can’t take back one day,” Yuu struggled harder. She bit at the one arm she could reach.

Leona’s grip loosened in surprise, evidently not having expected her to resort to her teeth. Yuu lunged upwards, headbutting his chin, and rolled them across the carpet with the adrenaline fuelled by her fury. Normally, it would have been difficult for her to even topple someone over thirty centimetres taller than her, but Yuu was not thinking logically.

“All right,” Leona let out an incensed laugh as he hit the floor with his back, “you wanna go?”

“You’re too scared to hurt me too, aren’t you?” Yuu taunted, planting her comparatively skinny arms by his head. “Making the excuse that it’s because of my gender. But you even hid behind Ruggie-senpai who did all your dirty work.”

“Insulting a lion is gonna be the last thing you do,” Leona bared his teeth at her. “If you were a man, I would have already taken your head from your shoulders, but you really wanna die?”

“Please. I _dare_ you to try and kill me.”

They rolled across the ground again. Yuu scratched at his arms, flailing her limbs wildly; he avoided her injured leg, still playing the dodging game as he batted at her arms lightly. “What,” she shouted at him wildly, “you really are afraid! The great Leona Kingscholar, unable to retaliate against a magicless—”

The roar this time was loud enough to echo in the room. Leona sunk his teeth into her lower arm, his teeth going straight through the fabric and her skin. Yuu, who was perhaps a little high on adrenaline and the thrill of the fight, laughed delightedly even as the sharp pain burst into her arm and up her shoulder.

“That’s how you should be,” she gasped back as blood dripped from her arm, “you look a lot better with that life in your eyes.”

“You’re insane,” Leona snarled at her, blood smeared against his mouth. “Even a lioness knows better than to pick a fight against me.”

“Good thing I’m a human,” Yuu retaliated. “So? You done throwing a tantrum like a kid? I’m not going to stop until you see sense.”

Leona sucked in a long breath and shut his eyes for a moment, swallowing whatever he had been about to say. “…If you don’t leave,” he gritted out, “I will _rip_ your arm from your shoulders.”

“Try it,” Yuu said boldly, “I—”

Leona rolled off of her—he’d been crushing her legs to prevent escape—and pulled her upright with one hand. Veins stood out in his dark skin with the effort of restraining himself; he dragged her over to his desk, pulled open a drawer and pulled out a glass bottle in the shape of a diamond. It was filled with clear liquid.

Yuu would have continued to insult him, but he was breathing hard, as if preventing himself desperately from attacking her on the spot. Leona lifted her by the collar of Ruggie’s old shirt, yanked the cork out from the bottle with a loud _pop_ , and shoved the contents against her mouth.

The surprise made her swallow. It tasted vile in the same way all potions from this world tasted terrible; the liquid burned against her throat as she gulped it reflexively. Leona made sure she swallowed the contents before pulling the bottle away and throwing her against the bed with enough force for her to bounce into the air.

Yuu felt her newly wounded arm tingle together with her ankle and cheek as he cleared the chessboard from the bed, scattering pieces everywhere, and snatched her notebook from beside where she sat. When she glanced down at her bleeding limb, she found the teeth marks closing against themselves supernaturally fast, the pain receding.

“What—” she started.

“I don’t care what made you crazy enough to start making plans like these,” Leona told her, tension layering his voice with an unnaturally guttural growl. He looked less than human— _more_ than human—as the sinking sun caught those eyes wild with anger. “Stop assuming shit about me and Ruggie and the rest of the idiots here. You don’t know me. You don’t belong here.”

“That’s not for you to say,” Yuu snapped back, scooting off the bed to stand up straight.

Leona reached over and flung her against the dresser. While she caught her breath as she rebounded off the door and frantically scrambled back towards him, he opened her notebook with a cynical smile, showing the pages of their plan with her writing and his perfect calligraphy, before he ripped the pages down the middle.

“Hey!” Yuu cried out in horror.

“This would have been _you_ if you were anyone else,” Leona told her, his eyes frozen colder than Aardvark’s had been the night he’d punched her. The pieces of her notebook floated to the ground like so many fallen leaves. “Get the hell out of my sight and don’t show your face to me again.”

“You can’t just—”

“Can’t I? You’re an eyesore, Directing Student,” his mouth formed the words mockingly. “No one wants you here—in this school, in this world. Not in Savanaclaw. You’ve overstayed your welcome.”

Yuu struggled as he lifted her bodily around the waist and carried her over to the door. “I’m not done with you!”

“I am,” Leona said with cold finality, and flung her out the door.

—

Whatever he’d forced down her throat had sped up the healing of her ankle well enough for Yuu to stomp into her temporary room sans crutch, seething. She stuffed her things into her bag angrily, threw her glued-together crutch against the wall with a clatter for good measure, and made her way down the walkway without bothering to keep the noise level down.

Halfway across a rope ladder, she nearly bowled Ruggie over. He’d been running up the stairs—when he caught sight of her face, the hyena blocked her way with an arm. “Hey,” he said tensely, “was that roar Leona-san? What the hell did you—”

“Do _not_ ,” Yuu bit out, “mention that person’s name to me right now.”

“Yuu-kun!?” Ruggie spluttered. He sniffed the air. “Wait a second. You’re bleeding! Did he—”

“Sorry Ruggie-senpai. I’m not calm enough to talk to you right now. I’ll see you the day of the Magift thing,” Yuu tramped past him loudly, though since she was only wearing her fluffy socks, the noise she made was less than intimidating.

“What the hell happened with you two!?” Ruggie was calling from behind her. She ignored him.

Fine. If Leona Cowardly Kingscholar was going to behave like a little child, fine. Yuu was done with his tantrum. He wanted her to leave? So be it.

The anger boiling in her throat and chest was beautifully heady, suppressing her perception of her surroundings as she slung her book bag over her shoulders and stomped her way across the lounge. Several people approached her with shouts of concern. Yuu ignored them all.

Jack caught her eye from across the room—he was giving her a troubled frown. Yuu nodded briefly at him before exiting the lounge and the doors that led outside. She shivered as gathering winds cut through the thin tunic and jeans and her socks. The sun was no longer visible behind the clouds.

Yuu didn’t remember how she made it back to Ramshackle. Thoughts whirled around in her head about how she would show him how _wrong_ he was, how unbelievably out of character it was for him to be so defeated, how she couldn’t stand that look on his face and how she would change it even if she had to get bitten again. As she’d made it back to Ramshackle, it had begun to drizzle; Yuu sneezed twice before she stepped into the shower glumly.

The dorm was empty, Grim and Ghost nowhere to be seen as she stepped out in a cloud of steam and her nightgown. Yuu paced aimlessly up and down the stairs, unable to let go of her frustration, before she noticed an embossed letter envelope strewn across the welcome mat at the doorway.

Mostro Lounge’s seal was waxed against the opening. Yuu peeled it off carefully and read the thick note that told her to come Friday evening to prepare for Sunday’s game. She absorbed the information without really registering it, still burning. More importantly than this, she needed to figure out a way to knock the stupidness from Leona’s head. Yuu had messed up her delivery badly and even caused him—who behaved like a gentleman—to bite her and throw her out; still, he was so _infuriating_ —so immature! Discarding all he had before him just because he was afraid!

Unlike her, Leona had people around him who loved him. Yuu could not forgive him for ignoring them—for treating Ruggie like that, Ruggie who came back injured and acted like it was nothing because he was doing it for Leona. Just the memory made a swell of rage rush through her again.

Still, she hadn’t meant to explode, lose control so completely. Yuu was beginning to think she’d been a little hasty. There could have been a better way to talk to him—now she’d ripped apart whatever acquaintanceship they’d had between them like Leona had torn her notebook apart.

That coldness in his eyes had spelt out his hate as clear as day.

“Argh!” Yuu clutched her wet hair and flung the envelope into the sky. “These fricking Dorm Heads are too much trouble!”

—

Yuu slept through classes Friday. She couldn’t bring herself to care, because her nightmares had worsened and pushed her from her bed to the cold floor more than once. As if resonating with her emotions, her dreams chased her relentlessly with images of the past. Her father’s back as he turned away. Waiting seven hours after school for no one to come pick her up. Being mistaken for an orphan at community camp.

_“No one wants you.”_

_“No one loves you.”_

_“All alone.”_

Leona told her sombrely, “No one will follow me anywhere.”

Yuu opened her mouth to tell him he was wrong, but her voice faded into darkness.

In her dreams, three hyenas leapt at the dying lion who had lost everything. Their laughter startled her awake for good, spread-eagled on the floor of Ramshackle. For a delirious moment she was sure the laughter was from Giraffe calling her for breakfast, but her dorm was empty.

She was, once again, alone. Her fingers curled around nothing where it had once held a crutch, stuck together with glue by Aardvark.

Yuu arrived at Mostro lounge twenty minutes early for her shift. She was still angry, but unlike the searing heat of yesterday, the emotion had calmed into a persistent simmer in her gut. She was done throwing a tantrum. Yuu refused to continue to behave in a way that made Leona call her a child again.

Just sitting in it was not productive—she had to do something to stop whatever they were going to do the day of the match.

But how?

Leona had refused to tell her his plan. But Yuu, who was assigned to the stands, had plenty of chances to interact with the crowd and tip off Diasomnia’s team. So she was going to smash his plan into a thousand pieces.

She was going to _show_ him how wrong he was.

For a second, Ruggie’s battered appearance struck her with a heavy feeling—was she really going to make all of his work for naught?—but then she remembered Leona telling her that not a single creature would follow a king like him, that he was dangerous, hated. She slammed her locker shut a little harder than necessary.

The answer was a resounding _yes_. Even if Ruggie had put his all into it. Yuu was not a good person and she was no longer about to hesitate.

Yuu worked her shift with more vehemence than usual, marking her path through the coliseum map she would be traversing the day of and memorizing sale prices. The bag slung over her shoulder was coloured in pale lilac that matched the stoles of Mostro Lounge’s uniform; it was, according to Azul, enchanted to store triple the number of drinks and food products that would usually fit.

Jade, who was in charge of explaining the role she and several other students were assigned to that day, stooped down to murmur in her ear as Octavinelle’s other workers bent their heads over the map. “You seem to be in a wonderful mood today, Mister Directing Student.”

“You think?” Yuu said grumpily.

“If there are any…issues you may be having, say, with coursework, I do recommend taking it up with Azul’s side consulting business.” Jade indicated the VIP Room down the hallway, his smile never changing. “For a price, I am sure he would be able to solve whatever troubles you may have.”

Yuu briefly imagined how an encounter between Leona and Azul would proceed like and dismissed it with a shake of her head. “It’s probably better for the world if I don’t,” she sighed. Somehow, she couldn’t see the two of them getting along.

“You always say such interesting things,” Jade gave her a bemused glance, sliding in at the table in the break room. The other students scooted away, giving him a wide berth. “Is it the reason why you smell faintly of blood today?”

She blinked, startled from her thoughts. The wound had scabbed over with the aid of Leona’s potion, and she’d showered. “You can smell it?”

“Well…” Jade’s glance flickered to her arm briefly where it was bandaged under her uniform. “Although not as good as it is underwater, a Merman’s sense of smell is rather more developed than a human’s.”

“Oh, well…I had a bit of a disagreement with someone.” Yuu sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly.

“A disagreement,” he repeated. “Hopefully it doesn’t affect your performance. I suggest hiding those dark circles under your eyes. You look a little gaunt.”

“Right,” she mumbled. “…Leech-senpai, what do you do when someone you know is being really stupid?”

Jade blinked his heterochromatic eyes briefly before smiling wide. “Why, Mister Directing Student. Are you talking about Floyd?”

“How’d you guess,” she deadpanned. “No, not him, though I’m sure you two have your moments. There’s just a situation which I can’t figure out how to solve no matter how hard I try because the other party is being _fricking_ stubborn. Your brother’s stubborn too, right? How do you deal with it?”

He pressed a glove politely to his mouth in a chuckle. “Floyd lives the way he wants, which feels good to watch, so I can’t say I’ve had to fight with him often. However, if you are feeling frustrated, may I recommend participating in a viewing of the Mountain Lovers’ Assembly?”

“Mountain Lovers’ Assembly?” Yuu repeated, distracted, and turned towards him interestedly. “Is that a club at this school?”

“Why _yes_!” Jade’s eyes lit with excitement as he leaned forwards. “It is a wonderful club, Mister Directing Student, for exploring and appreciating the skies and the land, all of which is full of new and exciting things. When I am feeling bore…ahem, out of sorts, I find it helps immensely to enjoy the great outdoors.”

Yuu listened bemusedly as Jade spun out a speech detailing the benefits of joining the Mountain Lovers’ Assembly, not the least of which was the chance to pick rare mushrooms. Apparently, the forest behind NRC’s school building was filled with ridiculously rare plants that couldn’t be found anywhere else.

“One of my fondest memories last year is of wrestling a bear to gain access to a rare mushroom,” Jade recalled almost dreamily. “If not for its poisonous nature, I would have kept it to show off. It was beautiful, though. Would you like to see a picture?”

Startled into a laugh, Yuu found the anger settling a bit in her stomach. Faced with Jade’s wanderlust that resonated closely with her own excitement for knowledge, she peered over at his smartphone curiously as he showed her a snapshot of a rather ominously purple-looking mushroom attached to a tree.

“Floyd seemed ill when I showed him this,” Jade said thoughtfully. “I wonder why. It was a good shot, if I say so myself.”

Yuu broke into snickers. “I would’ve _loved_ to see that,” she said.

Jade was the one to give her a bemused glance this time. “…Usually when I speak about the Mountain Lovers’ Assembly, people tend to react…less than enthusiastically,” he told her.

“Why?” Yuu frowned. “I’m busy with this whole part-time job thing, but it sounds like a great club to join. Well, maybe not for me if there are poisonous mushrooms lying around everywhere. I’d die in a second.”

“Of course if you were to be wandering into the mountains, I would accompany you,” Jade said. “…That’s not it. Mister Directing Student, you’re interested in joining?”

“Can I?” she blinked. “Exploring this world sounds like fun to me. After all, there’s so much I haven’t seen… I’ll have to ask if I can join school activities, though, since I’m technically not a full student. Thanks for the invitation anyway.”

“Not at all,” Jade said slowly, looking at her carefully. “…You truly are an unusual person, even for someone from a different world.”

She’d heard that line a thousand times by now. “Did I put you off?”

“Unthinkable.” his smile this time revealed the slightest flash of teeth. “I was just thinking that it would be difficult to get bored around you.”

—

Sunday dawned early with cheerful sunlight. Yuu was startled out of her fitful rest as a hand clamped on her shoulder and shook.

“Grim?” she muttered sleepily, reaching out.

“The tanuki’s not around,” a low voice replied gruffly. “Oi, what happened the other day? Did you pick a fight with Leona-senpai or something to manage to leave Savanaclaw?”

Yuu felt his silky hair sleepily before wrenching her eyes open. “…Jack?” she squinted, retracting her hands. “What are you doing in my room?”

“I was passing by during my morning run.” Silhouetted by the rising sun, Jack frowned down at her in apparent confusion. “…Are you really a teenage boy? Your bones look so fragile I could snap ‘em with one hand.”

“That doesn’t explain how you got in,” Yuu ignored him, pushing herself upright and yawning. “Today’s the day, huh? I haven’t been able to see Grim and Ace or Deuce for a while. Hope they’re doing all right.”

“More importantly,” Jack sat on the edge of her huge bed, arms straining at his athletic jacket with muscle. “What did you do to Leona-senpai? He’s been in an awful mood these past couple days. Everyone’s afraid to breathe.”

“Don’t talk to me about him right now,” Yuu snapped, flaring up briefly. “…You guys have a plan in place to disrupt whatever he’s doing today, right?”

Jack blinked at her. “You guys actually fought? It wasn’t just a plan to get out of Savanaclaw?”

Yuu gave him an impatient look.

“…Right, well…to put it simply, we’re replacing some of Diasomnia’s players with dummies so that whatever happens, no one gets hurt.” Jack explained. “We’ve already discussed it with them and gotten their permission. More importantly, I’ve never seen our Dorm Head that pissed off. He broke the kitchen table last night, you know.”

“Replacing players,” Yuu mused, ignoring the concerned glance he was sending her way. “Classic, but a good strategy, I guess. I’ll be in the stands in the coliseum during the game. I’ve got a job selling drinks and food, but do you guys need any more help?”

“We should be fine, and you’d just get in the way without magic,” Jack said gruffly. “Are you sure you’re fit to go to the games, kid? You look even worse than Leona-senpai does. Have you been sleeping?”

“I’m fine,” she brushed him off, “more importantly, I’m really counting on you guys to give him a good slap in the face. Do you know who the whole rebel from Savanaclaw is who’s teaming up with my friends? I should thank him.”

“Nothing’s happened yet, so save it for later,” Jack sighed. “…Everyone was asking after you back at the dorm. You smelled like blood the other day, so they were worried you were missing a chunk of flesh.”

“…Oh.” Yuu remembered the crowd of Savanaclaw students she’d hung out with. Remembered Ruggie’s food. Their smiles. Soaring through the air pressed close to their shoulders. Her insides went cold. “Tell them…I’m sorry…if you get a chance to. And that I’m fine.”

Jack frowned at her, but didn’t prod further, to her relief. “Watch your back,” he advised her. “No one knows what’s gonna happen today. You can never be too prepared.”

Yuu arrived at Mostro Lounge on heavy feet after seeing Jack off at the door. The deep blue of the ocean calmed her spirits slightly as she was instructed to change into her athletic uniform along with the rest of the volunteers.

“It’s to distinguish you from the crowd,” Azul explained, running a critical eye over the gathered students in his suit and lavender jacket. “Being dressed in sporty clothing will boost sales. Have all the booths been set up?”

“Yes, Dorm Head,” the student beside her stood up straight as she tugged her grey t-shirt straight under the black track jacket. “The early shifters should all be lining up across the side street leading to the coliseum already. All that’s left are the stand-workers here.”

“Good. Listen up, everyone,” Azul called out. The gathered students all fixed their attention on him. “I have Jade and Floyd out making sure the security of the street is perfect, but there is a…certain request I have accepted this year that has changed the order of things. The players will be parading from the east school building down the side street to the coliseum instead of waiting there half an hour before the match begins.”

A murmur rippled through the gathered crowd. “…What?”

“I cannot tell you the specifics, but the sum I received was quite hefty,” Azul’s glasses gleamed with light as he smiled. “As the players walk down the street towards the coliseum, there will be many people watching from afar. The stand sellers are to wait until the parading players have entered before following behind and reporting to their respective positions. Is that clear?”

“Yes sir,” Yuu repeated with everyone else.

“Very good. I am expecting…record-shattering results this year, so don’t disappoint me.” Azul chuckled to himself rather ominously. “I’m sure this year’s tournament will be a sight to behold.”

Yuu trailed behind the rest of the stand workers as they passed through the mirror and trudged up through Main Street towards the side street reaching the coliseum. From a distance, she could already hear the cheering and lively noise.

“Whoa,” she muttered, “the booths are overflowing.”

“This is your first time, isn’t it,” one of Octavinelle’s students flashed her a jagged grin. “You ain’t seen nothing yet, kid. With the parade of entering players this year, looks like the sides are gonna get even more crowded. You’re so small, you should be careful you don’t get trampled.”

The long row of booths began as the trees ended down NRC’s cobbled side street leading up to the coliseum. Yuu’s breath caught as she stared down the long path, lined brightly with tents, signs and spreads of all sorts of wares. “Wow!”

Azul had outdone himself. Yuu saw many of the ideas they’d discussed strung up from the roofs of each booth—popcorn, badges from each dorm, festive scarves, candy. Even the _matsuri_ she’d participated in during Japan’s summers did not have booths half as beautifully decorated with all manner of plants, flags, hand-painted flowers fashioned to hang from the cloth roofs. Floating lanterns brightened rows of flags enchanted to hover over their heads, flashing a warm yellow green.

There were all sorts of customers crowded around a stand of glass bottles; a young girl no more than seven clutched at her mother’s skirt and pointed plaintively at a huge lollipop. It was the first time she’d seen those of the female persuasion since she’d entered this world, but NRC had been opened to everyone for the weekend. So many visitors flooded the streets that it was almost impossible to move forwards. The distant coliseum towered over the booths in the sunlight, two giant ravens carved out of stone guarding its entrance.

“No matter how many times I see it, it still takes my breath away,” her stand partner nodded with a wide grin.

His enthusiasm was infectious. Yuu nodded furiously. “This is amazing,” she muttered to herself. “It makes Hogwarts’ Quidditch matches look like a practice arena.”

“What?”

Oops. “Nothing.”

Their group advanced slowly through the crowds as Yuu drank in her surroundings hungrily. She could almost forget about the matches about to transpire with the majesty of the building ahead of her. The coliseum’s front side was already bigger than the Magift pitch dug out at Savanaclaw—just what did the inside look like?

As they moved, a commentator’s voice echoed above the crowd through what sounded like a megaphone. Yuu half-listened to him thank the listeners for their patience and announce the beginning of the player’s march. Everyone around her cheered wildly when he called out the two-year champion’s name, Diasomnia.

“Hopefully Octavinelle doesn’t get pitted against them right away,” muttered one of the students ahead of her. “We’re not so strong.”

“I’ve never been gladder that I can’t participate,” Yuu told him with a grin, receiving a playful glare in response. Their group cleared off the street along with everyone else, pressing against the sides of the booths to make room for the parade of students to proceed.

Yuu’s first hint something wasn’t right was the rumble that began to shake the side street. It started subtly, making her turn towards the coliseum, before a great scream rose up from the front of the crowd.

“What the—!?” someone cried from up ahead. “Some guys are running this way straight for the parade!”

Distracted from her observation of a floating pinwheel, she craned her head up to squint into the distance towards the coliseum. Her group was situated towards the very end of the street where the booths began as they waited for the parade to pass, but she could still make out a cloud of dust that preceded…a crowd of spectators running directly against the beginning parade—and making a beeline towards their group.

“What the hell?” someone hissed from beside her.

“ _Uwaaaah_!” one of the running spectators cried out. “My body’s moving on its own…get outta the way! Outta the way!”

Yuu gaped, swinging her head back in the direction of the Main Street, from where the parade was supposed to be approaching. Indeed, the green-and-black uniform marking Diasomnia’s students could faintly be seen as they moved forwards. None of them had noticed the crowd yet—the two groups were too far away.

“Don’t push me!” someone shouted.

“Run!” another cried, “they’re coming straight for the booths!”

Chaos exploded as spectators began to dive out of the way, knocking over stands and crashing into other players. Several people began to carry women to safety. Yuu was bumped out of her position by a heavyset man that smacked into her, sending her flying. She fell into the street with a yelp.

People were pushing and shoving as they tried to get to safety, screaming and yelling overwhelming the street. Yuu struggled to her feet only to be knocked over again. She hit the ground palms-first, hissing in pain as they scraped against the stone.

“—Can’t stop, so _move_ if you don’t wanna be trampled!”

Yuu left the ground in a rush. For a moment, she was sure she’d been mobbed by the frantic spectators; bodies squeezed in on her from all sides. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the pain to hit.

The heat of the crowd around her broke and Yuu inhaled fresh air; she wrenched her eyes open. Someone was carrying her and running, their short pants bursting against her hair.

“What the _hell_ ,” Ruggie Bucchi gritted out, adjusting his grip beneath her thighs, “were you doing in there, you idiot?”

—

On their way to the Hall of Mirrors, Ruggie complained incessantly at her about how insufferable Leona had been the past few days. “Why did you drop a bomb—whatever you did—and then just leave?” he managed between pants. “We had to walk on eggshells for fear of getting torn apart. I’ve never seen Leona-san that scary.”

“Ruggie-senpai,” Yuu interrupted, “what the heck was going on back there?”

“Do you need to know?”

“I was almost killed in that stampede just now, you know,” she said dryly.

“I saved your life, you know,” Ruggie shot back. He was pale, sweat beading on his brow.

Concerned, Yuu reached up and wiped his forehead with her sleeve. “Are you okay? Did you use magic again when I told you not to?”

“Are you my grandma?” Ruggie grumbled, tilting his head to give her better access. “…Don’t worry. I used a real expensive potion to amplify my magic power, so there’s no danger of me overdoing it.”

Yuu wrinkled her nose, but decided to save her questions about the potion for later. Right now there were other issues to be concerned about. “So, that crowd…”

“ _Shi shi shi_.” Ruggie gave her a wicked smile. “By now, those Diasomnia bastards should be nothing more than pancakes.”

Yuu wanted to ask how he’d managed to use his magic on the crowd, wanted to ask if Diasomnia could really be crushed by a bunch of non-magic users. But Ruggie looked almost as exhausted as she felt, and he had saved her from being trampled underfoot and possibly killed. She sighed and bumped his shoulder with her head. “Thanks for helping me out.”

“You think I saved you out of the goodness of my heart?” he snorted down at her. “You’re gonna fix whatever this problem is that turned our Dorm Head into a fire-breathing devil from hell, kid.”

“What?” Yuu spluttered. “I don’t wanna talk to him right now! Wait, where are we even going?”

“Where do you think?”

Yuu tried to struggle out of his grip, but even winded, Ruggie was stronger than her. He dove through Savanaclaw’s mirror and jogged up the spiral steps to the Magift pitch with her in his arms, completely ignoring her protesting. As they neared, Yuu saw that four or five Savanaclaw students had gathered around Leona, each holding brooms, dressed up in their dorm clothing and bristling with excitement as they stared down at something. Ruggie made his way over, steps quickening as he neared.

“Leona-san,” he gasped between pants, “I did it! Did you see the broadcast?”

“Sure did.” Leona had been staring down at a tablet which he locked and tossed to the side as Ruggie approached, smiling meanly into the distance. “Well done, Ruggie. Malleus is done for. With this, the seat of this year’s Magift king is mine.”

“Long live the king,” chorused the gathered players excitedly.

“Long live the king!” Ruggie echoed eagerly.

Yuu crossed her arms, glaring at Leona. “If only you’d be this proactive about other matters,” she muttered.

Her voice caught his attention—he turned along with the other players to catch sight of her still sitting in Ruggie’s arms. Leona narrowed his green eyes and lifted his upper lip in a snarl. “…Oi, Ruggie. Who told you to bring this useless herbivore here?”

“You look awful,” Yuu cut in acerbically, noting the dark circles under his eyes that matched her own. The surrounding students went unnaturally quiet as they stared between the two of them. “Are you sure you’re up to entering the match today?”

“Need me to teach you a lesson the way I did last time?” Leona growled back angrily.

Surprisingly, Ruggie cleared his throat and cut between them, setting her down on her feet lightly. “Now, now, Leona-san. Yuu-kun here got wrapped up in the stampede and nearly got crushed, so I scooped him up on my way here. Plus, he’s our hostage, right? Wouldn’t it be a waste to throw away a resource before we even got to use it?”

“Seriously?” Leopard jogged over to her. “You sure get mixed up in a lot of stuff, kid. You okay?”

“Yuu-chan’s so small he probably got knocked in the air,” a student she didn’t recognize laughed.

“Nice, Ruggie!” Jackal called over.

“Hey,” Yuu yelped as one of them slapped her across the back, “I’m not that weak!”

“He flew a little,” Ruggie nodded. “Like a feather.”

“You traitor!”

“Yuu-kun, your hands are all bloody,” Leopard commented. “Someone have a spare tissue or something?”

“Oi, you morons,” Leona growled, silencing them with a single glare, “now’s not the time to be worrying about a scratch. Get ready to leave. We’re going in soon.”

He stalked past her, stuffing something in her hands. Yuu, who was determinedly not meeting his eye, looked down—she was holding the Savanaclaw scarf that he usually wore tucked in at his waist. Pressed against the scratches on her hands, it soaked up her blood, still warm from his side.

“Leona-senpai,” Yuu blurted out, taking a step forward.

Before she could say anything—not that Yuu knew what to say in times like these—the mirror brightened from down below the spiral staircase. Savanaclaw’s students froze on their way down just as Grim tumbled through the mirror in a burst of light, followed by Riddle in his cape and crown uniform that he wore so well. Yuu sucked in a breath when Jack appeared next—and then, finally, Ace and Deuce.

The sight of her friends for the first time in two weeks struck her like a physical blow in the chest. It felt like forever that she hadn’t held Grim in a hug, exchanged snickers with Ace and Deuce as they sat in Magical History class.

Both were dressed in the smart white suits Heartslabyul boasted as their dorm uniform. Ace and Deuce wore determination like flint in their gaze. The hue of Ace’s bright hair, of Deuce’s eyes was just as she remembered. Grim’s white fur under his chin looked soft to the touch. Yuu greedily drank in the sight of her friends, frozen for a long moment, not daring to breathe.

Before she could call out, Ruggie shoved her behind his back. “…What’s Heartslabyul doing here?” he called out cheerfully as the group made their way up the stairs.

Riddle made walking in high-heeled boots look like an art as he stomped his way up the stairs. “ _You_ know _very well_ why we are here,” he seethed, red rising up his neck to colour his face.

“Well, well,” Leona put on a disdainful smirk. “Everyone from Heartslabyul all lined up in costume. And if it isn’t our first-year boy beside you.”

“Didja transfer to Heartslabyul, kid?” Ruggie laughed.

“I just don’t want to stand beside people like you right now,” Jack returned, crossing his arms as he made it to the top of the stairs.

Leona let loose a low growl. “You _traitor_.”

Jack sniffed the air pensively to hide a flinch. “Hey, is the Directing Student…?”

Riddle narrowed his grey eyes, pushing his way past the first year and cutting him off. “One count of dirtying the tradition of the yearly match,” he gritted out. “One count of student kidnapping. As the Dorm Leader who embodies Heartslabyul’s motto of _rigour_ , I cannot allow this to pass.”

“Student kidnapping?” Leona laughed. “I wonder what you’re talking about.”

Grim reached the top of the staircase, wheezing. “Don’t…screw…with me,” he managed, “I heard from that guy Kalim and his friend! You guys kidnapped my henchman!”

“Fricking stairs,” Ace gasped, coming up beside him.

“Savanaclaw!” Deuce cracked his knuckles threateningly, a hint of wildness leaking into his expression. “Where the hell did you put our Directing Student?”

Yuu could not produce a sound—her chest squeezed tight. They’d been worried about her. The first thing they’d asked about was her.

Someone _cared_ about her.

She opened her mouth, starting to push past Ruggie’s back, but Yuu didn’t expect him to reach for her hands and yank her forwards.

“What,” Leona drawled as the hyena dragged her into view, “you mean this little kid right here?”

Deuce’s pupils dilated as he caught sight of her. “Yuu!”

Still lost for words, she took a step forward to break free of Ruggie’s grip but yelped as something tightened on her wrist. With his signature sleight of hand, Ruggie had used Leona’s Savanaclaw bloodied scarf to handcuff her wrists together tightly in a mockery of a rope. He yanked her backwards roughly, laughing. “If you knew it was us, why didn’t’cha come earlier to break him out, huh?”

“That’s right,” Leopard laughed meanly, “with a busted ankle, Yuu-chan was easy pickings.”

“Oh wait!” Jackal sneered. “None of you managed to get past us!”

They all laughed meanly.

Ace had gone very quiet—the mischievous light often winking in his gaze was non-existent. However, Grim was not about to take the insult without action; in fact, it was doubtful he’d even heard the jeers. He dove forwards, leaping off Riddle’s shoulder, and bounced straight into her in a rush. “Yuu!”

Yuu yelped, clutching the bundle of fur to her chest with her arms; Grim held onto her neck and rubbed his face against her furiously. He was warm.

She had not felt this warm life against her skin for two weeks.

“Grim,” she managed weakly through the rock in her throat.

“I’m never going anywhere without you ever again,” Grim growled fervently, climbing up on her shoulders, “you idiot, tell me when you leave the stupid dorm! Do you know how worried we were?”

“Sorry,” Yuu said lamely.

“As if ‘sorry’ is enough!” he snapped. “You smell just like them! And blood! You’re bleeding!? I’ll _roast_ ‘em all!”

“Blood?” Ace said quietly.

At a loss for words, Yuu squeezed Grim to her face and breathed in his familiar scent of fur. All of a sudden, a weight she had not noticed fell off her chest.

“Grim,” she repeated quietly, “Sorry.”

He licked her cheek once, twice. “Hmph.”

“What a touching reunion,” Leona drawled from beside her. “But aren’t you forgetting something?”

“We were prepared for you, you know,” Ruggie lifted his lip to show a fang. “Running into enemy territory so easily is the height of folly. Especially with a hostage here. What, you drunk or something?”

“Don’t forget,” Leona put one glove on her head in a move of dominance, “we can do whatever we want to this hostage here.”

“You _cowardly curs_ ,” Riddle snarled, reaching for his Pen, “Release Yuu this instant!”

“Hey, Leona-san, let us,” Jackal elbowed his way to the front, cracking his knuckles.

“We should warm up a bit for the game,” another student stepped up beside him eagerly. “These small fries are just right for practice.”

“Hmph,” Leona cast a dismissive glance over them, pausing on Riddle, who was reddening more by the moment. “…Go play with them for a little bit.”

“Yessir!”

Yuu had no intention of remaining a useless hostage on the side, though Ruggie had done an excellent job of tying the scarf around her wrists. Grim helped her as she struggled while the five students leapt forward to fight. He closed his teeth around the knot and pulled hard. While spells flew back and forth over the dirt-packed ground, she managed to undo the knot and untangle her handcuffs.

Her fingers were careful not to damage the scarf. Leona had given it to her to stem the blood from the scrapes on her palms. Even if he hated her now, it seemed that he couldn’t behave so rudely to women.

After all she’d said to him.

For all of Savanaclaw’s energy, none of them were a match for Riddle, whose magic power and control easily outclassed all five of them put together. By the time Yuu had stuffed the bloody scarf in her track pants pockets, even Leopard had been collared with Riddle’s signature Unique Magic, and the others lay on the ground, spent.

Riddle himself was heaving. Not with exertion—his face was scarlet with anger so visible that neither Jack, Ace, nor Deuce came close enough to join in on the one-sided beatdown. As she watched, Riddle stomped straight past the five defeated students, yanked her out of Ruggie’s grip and dragged her behind him, Pen still pointed threateningly at the Savanaclaw bunch.

“Injuring students,” he said lowly, “and kidnapping students is unforgiveable, let alone a vulnerable first year without magic. I will _not_ let you off easily for this, Leona.”

The familiar address made Yuu blink in surprise. Did the two of them know each other? But then, Leona had been here for years; it wouldn’t be out of the question for two Dorm Heads to have some sort of contact.

Leona barked out a laugh. “You sure are concerned for this little herbivore,” he mocked him. “But he’s just a magicless runt. What’s the use of braving Savanaclaw to save a kid like him?”

“I wouldn’t expect someone without the concept of camaraderie to understand,” Riddle bit back maliciously.

“Funny how someone like _you_ should say that,” the lion shot back.

Deuce had reached the limit of his patience as the two traded insults. He jogged forward, pulled her out from behind Riddle, and crushed her to his chest tightly. “Yuu,” he choked, “you’re okay. We were so worried.”

“ _Gueh_ ,” Grim emitted, pressed in between them, before he wormed out of the spot to sit heavily on her head.

The familiar feel of Deuce pressed so close to her closed up her throat with an unfamiliar emotion. Yuu flung her arms around him in return instinctively. “Deuce. Sorry I caused trouble.”

“Don’t apologize, you idiot,” he ground out, pushing her head into his shoulder, “we should’ve figured out a way to come earlier. You suffered for two whole weeks and I…”

“Okay, okay, that’s enough,” Ace pulled the two of them apart before tucking Yuu under his arm. “My turn now.”

“Ace,” Yuu beamed up at him.

“You look kinda awful,” Ace told her lightly. He was smiling, but there was no humour in his expression. “What happened to your cheek? Why don’t you tell big brother Ace who the brave bastard was that punched you in the face.”

Yuu felt her face. She’d been so sure the bruise was invisible by now. But Ace’s observation skills were nothing to scoff at.

“—won’t stop with a Beheading,” Riddle was threatening his opponent, voice low with anger. It was doubtful he’d even noticed the first years approaching them as he jabbed the pen in Leona’s direction.

“Tch…” Leona clicked his tongue. “Leave the hysterics for later.”

“Yuu-kun sure is popular,” Ruggie observed as Ace and Deuce sandwiched her between them in their usual position. “Your beast-taming skills extend to humans too, huh?”

Yuu made a face at him. She’d never understand what he meant.

“Anyway, you can fight us all you want.” Leona looked down on them arrogantly. “Doesn’t change the fact that Diasomnia’s done for.”

“Oh? How interesting to hear.”

Yuu jumped as Lilia Vanrouge appeared mid-air, hanging upside down and somehow managing to keep Diasomnia’s green military cap attached to his head as he hovered. Where on earth had he come from?

“Who did you call ‘done for’?” a much taller student in a matching uniform stepped up beside him. Yuu hadn’t noticed his approach at all, but they must have come from the mirror. The new arrival surpassed even Leona in height, built solidly with broad shoulders. His pastel green hair was slicked severely back from his forehead, exposing two sharply slanted dark yellow eyes, slitted like a cat’s. A vein pounded in his temple with ill humour.

A second stranger approached Lilia’s other side, crossing his arms. Despite his identical uniform, he looked much smaller and slimmer than the green-haired student on Lilia’s other side. “As you can see, Diasomnia’s team hasn’t a single scratch. Thanks to these people.” He cast his pale grey eyes over to Heartslabyul’s gathered students.

Jack had said this morning that they’d managed to substitute the Diasomnia players for dummies, she recalled. Which meant that these people were part of the real Magift team.

Yuu peeked up at Ace from where she was sandwiched between him and Deuce. “You planned this together with Jack? He’s the Savanaclaw rebel?”

“You bet’cha.” Ace winked at her. “Tell you the details later.”

Ruggie gasped, looking visibly shaken as he scanned the completely unharmed students. “What—!? But I saw you guys getting swallowed up by the crowd earlier…”

“Too bad~!” from behind Lilia, Cater poked his head to the side as he bounced into view, waving with both hands. “I just used my Unique Magic, Split Card, to create a bunch of clones of myself and disguise them with Diasomnia’s uniform!”

Leona narrowed his eyes, all humour fading from his expression. “You…”

“You know, I’ve always wanted to wear Diasomnia’s uniform once,” Cater said lightly, “So this was a great chance for me to try it out. Lucky me! Gotta upload it to MagiCam later.”

He tossed her a wink. Yuu smiled back helplessly. Dressed smartly in his dorm uniform, he didn’t seem the least bit intimidated even as he lifted his phone for emphasis.

Lilia flipped upright to land lightly on the ground. “What, was that why you were so enthusiastic?” he laughed in that unusually deep voice that belied his height. “If you asked, I would’ve lent you my spare earlier. We are part of the same club, are we not?”

Cater laughed nervously. “Lilia-chan, _yours_ might be a li~ttle bit tight for me.”

Leona cut them off with a growl. “…Hey,” he said lowly. “What the hell is going on?”

“I heard what happened from Riddle last week,” Lilia narrowed those magenta eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. There was a fey light in those eyes as he exposed pointed teeth with his grin. “Imagine my surprise when he stormed into Diasomnia demanding an audience. It seems that one of his friends had been kidnapped, so I played along with the script a bit to help him out.”

Yuu blinked as he turned those eyes on hers and went stiff. Something about Lilia Vanrouge put her on edge instinctively each time she saw him.

Ruggie had more pressing concerns. “Th…then, what about Malleus!?” he took a step forward, sweating nervously.

The tallest Diasomnia student put his hands on his hips, puffing out his chest proudly. “Of course he is safe! In fact, the Young Master was able to direct all of the confused humans to the coliseum safely with his magic. You should thank his generosity!”

The second student beside him, whose long silver hair fluttered in a breeze, had his eyes closed as he listened. Yuu squinted as he swayed. Was this person _asleep_?

“Are you frickin’ kidding me!?” Ruggie gaped, drawing her attention back to the Savanaclaw group. “Then everything we did was useless!”

Leona glanced around the gathered students. Yuu followed his stare.

Leopard, Jackal and the others were collared. Riddle was still seething as he stood protectively in front of her. Yuu was surrounded by Ace, Deuce and Grim, who were all ready to leap at him in a moment’s notice. And the three Diasomnia students, flanked by Cater, who was watching the proceedings carefully, were facing him unsmilingly.

The situation had changed.

Yuu met Leona’s eyes briefly—watched as the light extinguished from them and he broke their gaze. “……Aah, whatever.”

Ruggie blinked. “Huh?”

“I’m done,” Leona sighed, waving a glove, “with this whole charade.”

The hyena emitted a nervous laugh, taking a step forward. “Wait…” he said. “Leona-san? What d’you mean by…”

“Are you dumb?” Leona arched an eyebrow sardonically. “If Malleus is still attending the match with all his limbs intact, there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that we’d win against him. As if there’s even meaning in attending a match like that. I’m out.”

Ruggie jerked back as if he’d been slapped, his pupils dilating. “Wh…no way!” he protested.

Yuu struggled from under Ace’s arm absently. She’d thought her anger had simmered down.

She was proven wonderfully wrong as it blazed to life in her chest again.

The hyena took one step forward, trying to muster a smile as his voice shook. “…Hey,” he said shakily, “even without factoring in Malleus, haven’t we crushed players from all the other teams? But…if Leona-san, if you don’t play…I don’t even know if we’ll make third place. …What’s gonna happen to our dreams?”

Leona’s gaze was full of that same exhaustion as he stared mercilessly at Ruggie. “No matter how much the world is watching, the tournament is just child’s play in the end.” He lifted his mouth in a mockery of a smile, lifting a hand. “You guys kept staring at me with sparkling eyes and talking about dreams like kids. It was funny enough, so I played along for a while. That’s all.”

Yuu put Grim down on Ace’s shoulder. “One sec,” she whispered to him.

“Yuu?” Someone called her. She didn’t register their voice.

Ruggie lost his smile. “Why…?” he gritted his teeth. “Weren’t we gonna take the world by storm…weren’t we gonna turn everything on its head?!”

“Stop yapping,” Leona ground out. “Fine. I’ll tell you the truth. That you’re just a hyena raised in a pile of trash, and that I’m just a second prince everyone hates, someone who’ll never be king as long as he lives. No matter what I do, there’s _nothing_ we can do to overthrow that. Got it?”

Yuu sucked in a breath. Before she could say anything, Ruggie—who had never gotten angry at Leona before this no matter how unreasonable his requests had been—Ruggie bared his teeth and yelled back. “You’re full of shit! What’s with that stupid reasoning!? You’re gonna come all the way here just to give up!?”

Leopard came up behind Leona, rubbing sorely at his side. He put on a wide smile, but there was bright anger in his gaze. “Leona-san, that’s a bit much, isn’t it? You’ve been off all week…but I didn’t expect you to say _that_.”

“You think if we punch him hard enough, we can drag him onto the field?” Jackal wondered.

Yuu felt a fierce rush of affection for them as they gathered to face their Dorm Head. Even if Leona had given up, it was evident that his followers had not.

“… _Haa_.” Leona sighed, pressing a hand to his eyes. Between his fingers, one emerald eye fixed on them, its pupil dilating. “You’re all so annoying. All you weaklings should just shut _up._ ”

The last word accompanied a great rumble.

“Watch out!” Yuu, who recognized the expression from before he had bitten her arm, lunged forwards, tackling the closest person into the ground.

It was a useless effort. The ground itself shook; the entire Magift pitch trembled. Everyone gathered scattered as the dust packed against the pitch rumbled and blew into the air in a mini dirt-storm. Both Yuu and Ruggie went rolling haphazardly as an earthquake stirred the field. Shouting overwhelmed her hearing.

The air was dry. Unbelievably dry. Yuu spat out dirt and struggled to her feet—her lips cracked tangibly at the movement. When she swiped the back of her hand across her mouth, it came away bloody. Her scraped palms stung.

She’d rolled quite a distance away. Distantly, Yuu heard Grim shout. “What the—?! My nose feels dry…my eyes hurt!”

Ruggie cried out from somewhere in the rumbling earthquake. Yuu shielded her eyes and began to run in the direction of their voices as similar yells belonging to the Savanaclaw students reached her ears.

“Ruggie-senpai!” she called out desperately, inhaling dust. Her throat felt like sandpaper. “Grim!”

“Everything Leona-senpai’s touching is turning to sand!?” Jack shouted.

Disregarding a warning throb in her recently healed ankle, Yuu dove through the great dust storm, coughing furiously and batting at the air in front of her. She nearly tripped over Jackal, who was laid out prone on the ground. He was unconscious.

Her nose bumped into Jack’s shoulder. He hauled her over someone else to break into a clearer patch of air, shielding her from the dust with one hand. Yuu squeezed his arm in gratitude, her painful tears evaporating into the air as soon as they formed.

Leona stood in a centre of a cyclone of wind that whipped furiously through the Magift pitch. He was holding Ruggie by the throat as the hyena fought against him.

Yuu cried out in horror. “ _Ruggie-senpai_!”

At her voice, Leona turned towards them. Even in this midst of the chaos, those eyes were quiet, empty. “My Unique Magic,” he said calmly. His voice carried over to her clearly. “You wanted to know what it was, didn’t you? This is it. _King’s Roar._ ”

“This…?” Jack looked around in dismay, caution staying him. “All of this is your doing!?”

Leona smiled slowly. “Isn’t it ironic?” He murmured almost gently. “That the prince of the savannah—the Savannah that despises and shuns the draught more than anything else—was born with a Unique Magic that turns everything to sand and dust…!”

His grip tightened. Ruggie choked as his feet left the ground. “Leona…sa…” he gasped. The visible skin of his lower arm cracked. A trail of blood formed and vanished instantly into the air, darkening his skin to rust.

Yuu broke free of Jack’s protective hold and threw herself at his arm frantically. “ _Stop it!_ He’s bleeding! Leona-senpai—” the rest of her voice was cut off as her throat seized with lack of moisture. The fingers clutching Leona’s arm stung with pain as her skin broke and nails cracked.

Leona stared down at her blankly. He hadn’t flinched when she dug her nails into his arms. Yuu met his eyes beseechingly—she received no response.

“Yuu!” Deuce shouted from far away. “Get out of there! You have no magic resistance, you can’t last!”

“Shit, that Unique Magic works on _people_ too!?” Ace coughed. “He’s gonna end up murdering someone!”

“Yuu!” Riddle’s voice rose in panic. “Leona! You will stop _right now_! _Off with Your Head!_ ”

A sparkle of light blasted through the dust their way—Yuu paused in desperately prying his fingers from Ruggie’s throat to look up hopefully. But Leona was not wearing Riddle’s collar; instead, he lifted one corner of his mouth in an arrogant smirk. His free hand tossed his Pen up and down.

“I don’t know what they call you,” he said arrogantly. “Genius, or whatever? Don’t screw with your upperclassmen. Unfortunately for you, one of my strong suits is defensive magic.”

Magic.

_Are you a witch or not?_

Yuu started to peel off her unbelievably dry track jacket so she could access the holster strapped to her arm—the fabric was crumbling in her hands as it withered. Her wand thrummed against her wrist as if scoffing at her for remembering so late.

“Leona-senpai,” Yuu struggled to enunciate, her tongue leaden and dry, “Stop!”

Leona threw back his head and laughed in delight as Ruggie redoubled his efforts to get free. “How about it? Ruggie. It hurts, doesn’t it? Herbivore!”

“Let him go!” her voice was weak.

“Ruggie-senpai!” Jack roared.

“This is what you wanted to see so much,” Leona told her in a low voice. “The reason why everyone hates me, the reason why I’ll _never_ be accepted, never be king. Can you understand now?”

“Stop hurting your friend,” Yuu pleaded.

He ignored her. “How does it feel to have your throat squeezed dry? It hurts, doesn’t it. So pitiful, this small creature who wandered into a lion’s den…you don’t stand a chance against a predator like me.”

Yuu’s irritated eyes stung with moisture that burned into nothing before they formed—her throat was unbelievably parched.

“Aren’t you,” Leona smiled, “afraid of me?”

“Ha…!” she barked out, fingers closing in on her wand. “I’ll _never_ be afraid of you. _Stupefy!_ ”

Her spell hit him squarely in the chest. For one unsteady moment, Leona’s eyes widened—the dust-storm paused—Yuu wrapped both arms around Ruggie and dragged him bodily out of his grip as Savanaclaw’s Dorm Head stumbled back one step.

The spell hadn’t taken full effect. Leona stumbled back but regained his footing. “What,” he began.

Yuu pointed her wand up, still holding on to her charge. “ _Ventus!_ ” she cried. A great gust of wind swept across the pitch, scattering the forming dust from before their eyes. Ruggie, half collapsed on top of her, coughed desperately as his airways cleared.

“Yuu!” Riddle shouted desperately.

“I’ve got him!” she cleared her throat, voice cracking.

Leona was staring at her as if he was laying eyes upon her for the first time. “…Herbivore,” he said lowly, lifting his Pen again, “what is the meaning of this?”

“Oi, Directing Student…!?” Jack jogged up to her as the dust whipped up around them again.

“Yuu…kun,” Ruggie choked.

Grim leapt on her shoulder. “Yuu! Your hands!” he cried out.

“I’m fine,” she croaked, “we have to stop him from casting his Unique Magic again!”

Yuu shielded her eyes with a limb whose skin was cracked and leaking clear liquid that fizzled into air before the droplets could hit the floor. Leona stood all alone in the eye of the storm he had created. All alone.

Just like her.

She had known he was strong. Riddle was a genius whose vast stores of magical power made him a student of great potential within his year—but Leona Kingscholar had the blood of the Afterglow Savannah’s most powerful line running through his veins. The three years and unthinkable experiences he had on Riddle made just one spell unbelievably potent as it sucked moisture from the air unceasingly.

Still, Yuu had not anticipated that he could easily kill thousands of people with one wave of his Pen. She remembered Leona sitting next to her on his broom, staring into the distance as he told her how everyone reviled the second prince’s Unique Magic.

Far off in the distance, the wood forming one of Savanaclaw’s Magift goalposts splintered and collapsed into dust.

Jack shoved her behind him with a snarl as he caught sight of her hands. “I’ve had enough!” He growled. “ _Unleash the Beast!_ ”

Yuu stumbled backwards under Ruggie’s weight as a high-pitched howl emitted from his throat before the sparkle of magic overwhelmed her eyes with light.

“Jack!?” Grim yelped. “What—he’s turned into…!”

When their surroundings had become visible again, in place of Jack’s tall figure was an unbelievably large silver-furred wolf. Even as everyone watched on in shock, the wolf let out a ground-shaking bark as it shielded Yuu and Ruggie from Leona’s sight.

Ruggie had finally managed to regain his breath; he supported himself against her shoulder, clearing his dry throat. “Yuu-kun,” he muttered to her quietly, “How the hell did you stop him?”

“Later. Are you okay?”

“…Thanks to you,” Ruggie wiped a smudge of dirt from her face. He gave her a strange look she couldn’t read before smiling. “Guess you saved my life, too.”

Yuu made sure he could stand before she leapt forward, ducking under the stomach of the huge wolf and readying her wand. Leona had been taken off guard as he pointed his Pen in the growling wolf’s direction. He wasn’t looking at her.

“Jack…” he narrowed his eyes at the creature. “You really want to do this?”

Yuu burst out from her hiding spot under the wolf’s leg. “ _Petrificus Totalus_!” she cried.

“What!?” Leona whipped in her direction too late. The white jet of light hit him directly in the chest, snapping his limbs together; he collapsed backwards.

“Now!”

“We need to carry the injured out of here!”

“Don’t order me around, Silver!”

“Sebek, move more quickly. Now’s not the time.”

“Oi, Ruggie, you okay?”

“ _Shi shi_. As if this much would stop me.”

People were yelling and milling about behind her, but whatever they were saying was not important right now. Yuu, flanked by the wolf, approached Leona cautiously, her wand outstretched and still fizzling with sparks of magic.

Despite the strength of her Body-Bind Curse, Leona had not said he was strong in defensive magic just for kicks. He glowed white as he struggled and with a sound of shattering glass, broke the enchantment.

Yuu took a step back, paling. No one without her magic could break her spell—hell, Professor Potter had even told her how strong it was, how difficult it would be to avoid anything she threw.

Yet Leona was gasping for breath as he struggled upright. Her Stunner had failed. Her Body-Bind had _failed_. How could he have…!

“…Ha ha…” Leona glanced between her and Jack, a sardonic light entering his eyes. “…So you were still hiding something from me, herbivore. Were you planning on this the whole time?”

“Leona-senpai,” Yuu started, stepping forwards.

He turned away from her to bare his fangs at the creature shadowing her. “Tell me, Jack! Where did you get your hands on a Transformation Potion? Those are illegal to use!”

Jack’s solid form burst from where the wolf had been with a brilliant sparkle of light. “ _Unleash the Beast_ —The Howl that Shatters the Moonlight Night,” he said lowly, pressing close to her side. “It’s my Unique Magic that transforms me into a wolf.”

Yuu gasped in surprise. Before she could do anything else, Riddle had approached her other side, Pen in hand. “Well done buying time, you two. _Off with Your Head!_ ”

Leona clicked his tongue as the collar closed into place around his neck. “…You really have guts to chain a lion like me,” he said lowly.

Jack ignored all of them. A vein throbbed in his temple as he took a step forwards, gritting his teeth. “Leona-senpai,” he shouted. “I…I…! The whole reason I came to this school was because I admired you!”

“Jack…” Yuu sucked in a breath.

His face screwed up in something close to pain. “But! What happened to the man I admired so much!?”

Leona roared back, “Why the hell do I have to live up to your expectations?”

Struck by the raw emotion in his voice, Jack took a step back, losing his words.

“…I have no right to say anything,” Riddle’s clear voice cut across the dry air, “but I cannot stand to look at the way you are right now, either. This is unlike you, Leona.”

“Ha! What could a rich little boy like _you_ understand?” Leona spat. “Don’t try to lecture me on morals like Elder Brother.”

“You’d be surprised,” Riddle’s eyes were dark with remembrance. “…I might know better than you think.”

“Indeed…for a man like you, that collar suits you much more than a crown. The king of the savannah would be disappointed in you.”

They all spun. Lilia stepped past them, his arms crossed. An unearthly light glowed in his magenta eyes. Her skin prickled—his delicate face was emotionless, but everything inside of her was screaming that Lilia Vanrouge was angry.

Leona narrowed his eyes at Diasomnia’s third year, but didn’t say a word.

“…It seems that you are grieving your inability to succeed the throne due to the order of birth…due to the talent you have inherited with your blood,” Lilia scoffed out. “But to live in indolence because you were not rewarded, to vent your anger on your vassals when your calculations miss the mark…how narrow-minded and petty.”

“You—” Leona started.

“Hey!” Yuu cut in, taking a step forward. It was so sudden that Grim tipped off her shoulder with a yelp.

Lilia spared her a brief glance before ignoring her. “Hmph. And you want to compete with our king, Malleus, with abilities…with that pitiful capacity of kingship? Don’t make me laugh. Even if you managed to defeat Malleus, as long as you don’t throw away that rotten disposition you possess, there is no way you will ever—”

“Shut up!” Yuu burst out, diving between Leona and Lilia. The latter blinked owlishly at her.

“You are…a Human child,” he said bemusedly.

“Yuu…?” Riddle murmured.

She saw the mirror glow from the corner of her vision—saw Ace and Deuce dragging an unconscious Leopard down the stairs, Ruggie tying his scarf around his damaged arm with his teeth. Right now, though, all of Yuu’s energy was focused on Lilia Vanrouge as she spread her arms wide to block him from saying anything else to Leona.

“Why do you defend your attacker?” Lilia cocked his head at her. “Has he not hurt you many a time?”

“You don’t know…” Yuu’s voice trembled with the effort of suppressing her emotion. “You don’t know _anything_ about Leona-senpai.”

“Directing Student…” Jack started.

Yuu wondered why it had come to this. Why everything was spinning out of control so quickly. She hadn’t wanted to see Leona shake Ruggie by the throat as he sucked water from his skin. Hadn’t wanted to see that disgusted look of betrayal he’d fixed her with when she’d attacked him with the Body-Bind. Hadn’t wanted to watch Lilia attack the most tender part of him without a shred of mercy.

She’d wanted anything but the sight of Leona standing alone, choked with Riddle’s collar, as everyone backed away in fear, in hatred, in disappointment.

See? He seemed to be saying. Everyone hates me.

“You can’t judge him as a good or bad ruler when you don’t know anything about him,” Yuu glared at Lilia.

The dark-haired student favoured her with an amused smile. “Child, you are yet small and know nothing of this world. Yet you would place your belief in the man who attacked your friends? Is that not the height of folly?”

Yuu flinched. It was times like these when she wished she was better at speaking. Everything within her wanted to argue back, but her words felt cheap and dirty in her throat. How could she defend Leona when he was the source of the problem?

Ruggie pushed past Riddle roughly. “Yuu-kun, behind you,” he snapped.

Before she could turn, Leona had planted a gloved hand between her shoulder blades and shoved. Yuu yelped, stumbling forwards into Lilia. “ _O…tto_ ,” he emitted, catching her with both arms.

“You’re right…” Leona said quietly, chuckling to himself. “It’s just as you say. Ha ha ha…even if I work my bones into pieces…I’ll never be king.”

“Leona-san, stop,” Ruggie took a step forward as Yuu spun, “you can’t keep—!”

The ground rumbled again. This time, the earthquake was even stronger. Lilia snatched her as he leapt into the air. The remaining people on Savanaclaw’s Magift pitch were buried under a great rush of sand.

Yuu held on in reaction—but Lilia was as small as her, if not smaller. That they were airborne for so long didn’t make sense.

A moment later, Lilia landed on the ground lightly, setting her down without even breathing hard despite his slender build. Grim jumped forwards into her arms, fur bristling over the loud sound of Leona’s laughter. “That guy,” he told her in a low voice, “he smells like Riddle did when he went crazy.”

“What!?” Yuu struggled out of Lilia’s grip. “I have to stop him—”

“My spell—!” Riddle cried from somewhere in the dust. “I can’t keep it up with his magic power exploding out like this…! _Ku_!”

“—Human child, go no further,” Lilia stretched out a hand in front of her, voice quickening, “this magical energy is far from normal—it is filled with powerful negative…”

“That’s exactly why we have to stop him!” Yuu snapped, “He’s going to—!”

“Everyone get _down_!” Cater, who was jogging in their direction from the stairs, cried out.

Yuu ignored him as a shockwave swept the field. Clutching Grim to her chest, she fought her way through the sandstorm that whipped mercilessly against her skin, regrouping with Ruggie and Jack who were making their way slowly towards where Leona’s figure stood obscured by sand. Even as they neared, the collar around his neck shattered into a thousand pieces of light.

Leona cast that exhausted, dead gaze over at the three of them. “From the moment I was born,” he said dully, “I’ve lived despised and shunned, without a place to belong, without a future. And no matter how much I struggled and worked, it was absolute that I would not be rewarded for my efforts.”

Ruggie hissed. “His Pen!”

The bleachers stacked to the side of the arena creaked under the pressure of Leona’s spell. Yuu and Jack were giving it all they had just to keep standing; Ruggie had sunk to a knee. She had her wand in her hand, but the memory of him breaking her curse stayed her hand—

Yuu had never felt more useless than she did now.

“The pain…the despair I suffer…” Leona bared his teeth and lifted his black pen and let loose an inhuman roar that shook her bones. “ _As if you could understand it all!_ ”

“ _Protego maxima!_ ” Yuu cried out. A barrier flickered to life over her, Jack, and Ruggie just as the sand blasted the rest of them out of the arena.

“I thought you couldn’t use magic!” Ruggie shouted in the confusion as Yuu struggled forward with her wand raised.

“Yeah…not _your_ magic!” Yuu shouted back.

“Ha…!” Ruggie favoured her a quick grin. “You sure tricked us good!”

“Ruggie-senpai,” Jack shouted as Riddle collapsed against Cater and rolled past them, “are you okay?”

“Never been better,” Ruggie said grimly. “I really need to put in a punch on that smug face of his before I’m all good, though.”

“We don’t have time to chat,” Yuu shouted, forging her way through the sand, “He’s overusing his magic like…!”

The sandstorm thickened so that the air around them darkened to a dirty yellow, chunks of dirt and field lifting up into the sky. Yuu struggled to keep her shield alive as she was pelted with rock and wood that swirled up from the Magift pitch. Jack caught her as she flew backwards off the ground, still clutching Grim to her, and the three of them pushed past the cloud of dust into the centre, where Leona opened his jaws and let loose a lion’s roar that shook the foundations of the bleachers into rattling.

“Shit,” Ruggie gritted out, “we were too late.”

Yuu released a panicked little gasp as she saw the tongue of bright orange flame burn from his scarred eye. “Oh no,” she moaned, “It’s an Overblot.”

—

Perhaps because of the lion he possessed within him, Leona’s Overblot lent a guttural quality to his voice that closely resembled an animal rumble when he laughed. Yuu’s shield broke with the strength of a single roar. Great globs of ink dripped from his forehead to paint an elaborate pattern across the scar over his eye; it accented the great ball of fire that he wore blazing brightly in his gaze and ate away at Savanaclaw’s dorm uniform, forming a pelt of inky fur that rested over his chest like a lion’s mane.

“What the hell!?” Jack gasped, shielding her with an arm.

Yuu recast the shield, only to have it break immediately. “Dammit!” she cursed. “He’s too far gone!”

“I didn’t expect that the whole Overblot thing you were talking about was going to happen to him, of all people,” Ruggie laughed shakily from her other side. “I’ve never felt magic this strong.”

“Should’ve just kept my mouth shut,” Yuu said frantically. “You have any idea how dangerous these things are?!”

Leona spread his hands painted in that black ink as it formed a great cape around him. His sandals, steeped in the Blot, lifted from the ground. It dripped from his feet to gather in a great puddle that bubbled and began to grow out of his shadow. His next growl was echoed by the shape taking place behind him, a noise that chilled her down to the bone.

“Behind him,” Jack gasped, “A huge lion is…!”

“That’s the thing we have to get rid of,” Yuu said frantically, “It’s the amalgamation of the negative energy that’s hurting him!”

“ _Hurting_ him!?”

“Overblots are _life_ -threatening!” she shouted. “Jack, can you cover me?”

Jack met her eyes through the swirling dust before he jerked his head down in a sharp nod.

“Yuu-kun!?” Ruggie spluttered. “What do you think you’re—!?”

“Everyone who can stand!” Riddle was shouting from somewhere behind her, “Protect yourselves and prioritize your own safety! Carry the wounded and get out of here if you can still move!”

“…Directing Student—no, Yuu,” Jack said tensely, eyes fixed on the colossal giant of a lion made of Blot that towered behind Leona, “you know what’s going on, right?”

“The same thing happened to Rosehearts-senpai last month,” Yuu muttered back. “Yeah, more or less. I’m going to try and stop it.”

“Lilia-senpai, please get the assistance of the professors!” Riddle shouted.

“Understood,” Lilia said gravely, rising into the sky, “Withstand it for a brief time while I am away.”

Yuu didn’t care enough to wonder why he was floating.

“Riddle-kun,” Cater said weakly, “you aren’t going to…”

“What, Cater? As a Dorm Head faced with such a problem, how do you expect me to stay out?” Riddle sniffed arrogantly. “What will you do? I don’t mind if you run.”

“If I don’t help you, Trey-kun’s gonna beat me up afterwards,” Cater laughed. He reached for his Pen with a sigh. “…Well, let’s give it a shot. I’ll follow you where you go, Dorm Head.”

Yuu sucked in a breath. “Okay,” she said, mind racing. “Jack, I need your help. Can you keep up your Unique Magic for a while? I can’t move fast enough to avoid his attacks while I cast.”

“You need me to carry you?” Jack caught on quickly. “I won’t be able to talk to you while I’m in my wolf form, but it won’t be tough to keep it up.”

“Rosehearts-senpai, Cater-senpai!” Yuu called out. “…They can’t hear me. Ruggie-senpai. Can you guys stay on the ground and take some heat?”

“Ha!” Ruggie bared his teeth angrily. “Take some heat? Far from it—I’ll single-handedly smack sense into him. You deal with that huge thing behind him and I’ll take care of Leona-san myself.”

“Ha ha ha ha!” Leona laughed as Cater and Riddle regrouped by them. “A hyena? The likes of _you_ wants to turn his fangs against _me_? Don’t make me laugh!”

“You’re the joke around here,” Yuu snapped back. “Of all people, I would never have expected you to lose control of your rationality and Overblot!”

“Shut up, herbivore! As if you know anything about me.”

“I’m sick and tired of hearing that line!” Yuu slashed her wand through the air, cutting through a burst of viridian wind he’d summoned. “When we get you back to normal, we are going to have words, you hear me!?”

“Why is this place full of idiots?!” Grim spat a fireball in Leona’s direction. “Yuu, I’m behind you. Go beat the hell out of him.”

Jack’s form dissolved into light at her left before a giant snout clamped on her collar and tossed her in the air. Yuu landed on the wolf form’s shoulder with an _oomph_.

“Whoa,” Grim yelped, bouncing on his head, “Jack’s huge!”

Indeed—with the vantage point she had sitting on the scruff of his neck, Yuu reached Leona’s eye-level and a clear view of the giant Blot lion behind him with a head made of glass. Ink bubbled inside the phial and leaked out to fuel the creature as it loomed above the stands.

Leona looked at her with those eyes ringed in ink and fire. “If I can’t overturn this world,” he said slowly, as if sharing a secret with her, “I’ll just turn it all to dust instead.”

“You, who couldn’t lift a finger on your brother?” Yuu laughed in his face. “What happened to your noble spirit? Stop giving up before you started! You know, you really piss me off when you throw games before playing them out to the end!”

“You’d have me play a meaningless game? One with the winner already decided?” Leona snarled at her. “You’re crueller than I imagined, what with your hidden abilities and vicious words.”

“You’re the one who decided everything’s meaningless,” Yuu snapped, “when it’s not. What happened to all those notes we made?”

“The ones I ripped into pieces?” Leona tilted his head back together with the lion and laughed wildly. “Those were less than a joke. Life isn’t as easy as your flowery brain seems to think it is!”

“I see I won’t get through to you just talking,” Yuu heaved, more furious than she could remember being. “You’re not even going to try, are you? Just going to let everything die like a coward!”

Leona pointed his Pen at her. A great burst of cutting wind and leaf shot in her direction. Before Yuu could raise her wand, Jack had leapt over it with unbelievable agility, closing in the distance.

“You’re an eyesore,” he growled at her, unfazed. “From the first time you woke me from my nap in the gardens you’ve been in my _way._ Leave me the hell alone!”

Yuu shouted in frustration. “If you want to be like that, then you won’t mind if I defeat you right now and take all you have for myself, then!”

“What?” he spat.

“It’s a game. Like chess. We’ve done this again and again… And this time the stakes are everything you have that you don’t see,” Yuu flung an arm around her. “People who respect you like Ruggie-senpai and Jack! Savanaclaw’s students that would follow you through hell. Your incredible talent!”

“Ha…did you just call my Unique Magic a _talent?_ ” Leona laughed disbelievingly.

“I’m going to duel you now,” Yuu told him with forced calm, “I’m going to win this game and take it all from you as the victor. If everything is meaningless, then you won’t mind if I become king in your place, right? _Confringo!_ ”

Her wand sang as the spell burst against the lion standing on all fours behind Leona. Unmindful of the ink splattering everywhere, he tilted his head back and laughed, sand drying into nothing with the timbre of his voice. “Just _try_ it if you can!”

Yuu had duelled from the back of a dragon before, but Jack was faster and more attuned to her actions than the Chinese Fireball had been, even if he couldn’t fly. Ruggie sent tongue after tongue of flame in Leona’s direction while Riddle and Cater acted as support. Jack was excellent at judging distance and taking her within casting range of the Blot lion behind Leona.

It was a good thing she was fighting together with a team this time. Alone, Yuu would have surely been swallowed up by the sand.

“You’re so stupid,” Ruggie spat, wiping blood from his mouth as he stumbled back from one of the lion’s blows. “With all you have…with all your stupid wealth, your stupid strength…and you decide it’s all nothing! Don’t screw with me! Do you know how much I’d give to have half of what you do?”

“You wouldn’t survive half a day within the palace,” Leona said darkly, “don’t desire things you don’t understand, you greedy hyena.”

“You should learn from him,” Yuu quipped. “Be a little greedier. I always thought Ruggie-senpai was one of the smartest guys in this school. _Expulso!_ ”

“Why, thank you, Yuu-kun,” Ruggie quipped, dodging out of the way of Leona’s next attack. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

Leona was strong. Even with Riddle’s unending fountain of magic power reinforced by Cater’s perfectly timed support, all of them were struggling against the waves of magic that lashed out from his Pen without a single incantation. Still, they refused to take a step backwards—Ruggie hung gamely on despite his injuries, water spouting from the tip of his Pen to counter Leona’s wind.

Yuu was aware that deep down, this Overblot had been a long time coming—something she couldn’t have stopped no matter what she did.

Riddle’s, too, had been building up his entire life in his oppression, but if not for Ace’s callous remarks, time and intervention may have lessened his bitterness, his longing for appreciation. Not so with Leona, who only believed what he thought he saw, who couldn’t recognize how much his dorm students loved him when it punched him in the face. He would have probably Overblotted—even without Lilia’s cutting insults—out of sheer willpower, because he was convinced from the bottom of his heart that there was no meaning to his existence.

Even though he knew he was strong, smart, fast—Leona thought it didn’t matter.

And she could not forgive that. Unlike Yuu, Leona was worth something. To Ruggie, to Jack—to her. If no words could convince him of it, the only thing left to do was to beat it into his head.

The duel wore on. Leona himself was strong enough to hold his own against the three on the ground; Yuu had her hands full with the great Blot lion that towered behind him and over Jack. She hurled spell after curse at the glass phial that made up its head as it roared and swept its paws in her direction. Yuu was shown just how powerful of an ally Jack was as he leapt over and under the attacking limbs like a centaur. Without him, she would have been roasted into a crisp many times over.

Still, her strategy of directing Cutting curses and similar destructive magic at the Blot seemed to have a greater effect than the elemental magic Riddle and Ruggie were sending in its direction. The field was splattered with black, Blot flying everywhere accompanying her shouts. Grim spat fireball after blue fireball at the globs of black heading towards them, leaping from Jack’s shoulder to his head and back again to defend her.

“Yuu-chan!” Cater called, gasping for breath as his debuff wore off. “I don’t think we’re gonna last much longer. How’re things going up there?”

Yuu could not muster the energy to answer him. Instead, she levelled her wand at the lion’s mane and bellowed, “ _Expulso!_ ”

“Oookay,” he laughed as ink flew everywhere. “I’ll take that as a ‘good’!”

“Damn, remind me never to get on _his_ bad side,” Ruggie muttered, wiping sweat from his brow.

Leona lifted a hand at her, sending the lion forward with a roar. “ _Turn into sand_!”

“You _really_ piss me off,” Yuu breathed, “open your fricking _eyes_ , Leona-senpai!”

Jack howled in agreement.

Still, they were all reaching the end of their rope. Yuu herself had never been good with endurance in and out of duelling, and the three below looked ragged as they backed away. Leona did not look much better, but his intelligence had not slowed. He had arranged his body so it covered the vulnerable glass head of the lion that stood behind him.

“I thought this berserker state was supposed to make ‘em stupid!” Grim panted.

“I don’t think this guy could be stupid if he were drunk,” Yuu muttered. “Jack! Can you hear me?”

Jack woofed, tongue lolling out of his mouth as he breathed hard.

“I’m gonna climb up on your head,” she whispered into his large ear. “I need you to fling me up in the sky as hard as you can.”

She didn’t need a translator to understand that his answering bark was questioning her sanity. Jack shook his head back and forth violently, almost dislodging her.

“We’re not gonna make it at this rate,” Yuu said flatly.

Jack whined.

“Don’t worry, as long as I gain some altitude, I can blast the thing open in one shot. We’ve worn him down a lot. Please, Jack, this is our only chance.”

He was silent for a long moment, but Yuu had already began to struggle up towards the space between his ears. Both appendages were pressed low against his head in reluctance.

Grim noticed. “Yuu? What are you—”

“Jack!” Yuu stood shakily atop his head. “Now!”

With a resounding bark, Jack lowered his snout and flung her up.

Despite how large he was, Yuu was still a full-grown human—she had to time her springboard just right to rise high enough in the air for the glass phial to come into view. Perhaps a week ago she would never have suggested such a foolhardy idea. After all, Yuu had not gotten over her fear of heights.

Still—this was nothing compared to the way she’d been tossed through the air during Wednesday’s Magift games. Yuu lifted her shaking wand on the lion as she flew up into the sky, clutched her wrist to steady it, and trained it on the glass.

“ _Reducto!_ ”

The glass splintered. Yuu reached her crest and started to fall—everyone was yelling, but she only had eyes for the lion below her. Leona was panting, but he still floated off the ground, both eyes narrowed menacingly in her direction. He was not spent.

It hadn’t been enough—not even another Reductor curse would kill it. Yuu’s mind raced—there was no time to think, and it was falling out of sight.

Heart in her throat as she picked up speed, Yuu whispered, “ _Sectumsempra_.”

The last thing she saw was a tremendous wave of black bursting across her vision.

—

A low creak reached Yuu’s ears from a long distance away. It was warm and soft around her, and hovering on the edge of consciousness, her body sought the descent into sleep once more. She was so tired…

Yuu reached out absently for Grim and pain seized up her entire body.

As she fought through the agony bursting up her arms and legs and ankle, it cleared her sleepy mind like nothing else. She remembered with a start the great ink lion, the empty despair in Leona’s eyes, and wrenched her eyes open frantically.

It was dark. Around her, the familiar smell of antiseptic and a white hanging curtain strung on both sides indicated she was lying prone in an infirmary bed in the castle. But Yuu had been fighting desperately for Leona’s life the last time she was awake outside, all the way in Savanaclaw.

What if.

Ignoring the screaming of her muscles, Yuu dragged her limbs from underneath the heap of blankets covering her, heart falling down into her stomach. She yanked open the curtain at the side of her bed laboriously, feet hanging over the side to dangle into the air, and came face to face with a child.

Yuu looked down at him wide-eyed, freezing reflexively. The boy stared back with matching surprise. The top of his head didn’t even meet the height of the candelabra at her bedside, but the yellow and bronze painting his clothing gave him vitality and height. He was hanging back by the open door, where chandelier light spilled warmly across his dark skin and fiery hair. The windows beside him had darkened to pre-dusk, winking with the first stars of October’s chilly night.

The Therianthrope child blinked innocently at her, and Yuu was seized with a similar feeling she got when Grim stared up at her and rubbed his head on her arm. In other words, this kid was incredibly cute. Especially with the two furry beige ears poking out from his tousled head.

“Hello onee-tan,” the boy lisped, blinking his limpid eyes and offering her a smile that missed a couple of teeth. “Have you seen Oji-tan around?”

“Oji-tan?” Yuu repeated before she realized that this kid’s enunciation wasn’t completely there yet without all of his teeth to help. He must have meant _oji-san_. “Oh. Did you get lost in the school?”

He nodded and inched forwards to approach where she was sitting. “ _Un_. I was looking for Oji-tan, but I can’t find him. Do you know where he is, onee-tan?”

Yuu glanced around, but the rest of the curtains were drawn. The boy fidgeting by her bed was looking up at her pitifully with liquid brown eyes, so she gentled her voice and expression and bent down to smile at him. Having never dealt with children so young, she didn’t quite know if it worked, but he didn’t run away. “Sorry, I don’t know who your oji-tan is. But I’ll help you look for him together, okay? So you don’t have to be by yourself.”

The boy blinked and tilted his head to the side. “Together?” he repeated, a feather necklace hanging around his neck swaying with the movement. “But onee-tan, you’re all bandaged.”

Yuu looked down at herself—indeed, her arms and fingers were wrapped in white and her left ankle was splinted.

“Don’t worry,” Yuu told him cheerfully, flexing her fingers painfully and feeling her wand warm against the inside of her wrist. She’d have to ask who helped her out later. “Big sis is stronger than you think.”

To her surprise, the boy hopped lithely on top of her hospital bed instead of taking her outstretched hand. His tail waved in the air before curling around him as he fixed her with a stern stare. “Nuh-uh.”

“Nuh-uh?” Yuu blinked.

“Dad taught me we have to treat girls like a treasure,” the boy told her self-importantly, crossing his arms over his long triangle-patterned tunic. “So I can’t make onee-tan run around when you’re in-in-in-jur-ed.”

“As expected of a Dixney world,” Yuu muttered.

The boy blinked. “Whuh?”

“Nothing,” Yuu shook her head with a grin. “Then do you mind waiting here with me for a little while? We can ask a teacher for help instead. I don’t want you to get lost.”

“…Okay,” he said after a moment. “But you have to sit still, onee-tan! No more getting out of bed!”

“I got it already.” This kid really was cute. Yuu pulled herself back on top of the bed and stretched out a palm. “My name is Yuu. I’m fifteen. Nice to meet you…”

Surprisingly friendly, the boy reached out his much smaller hand and squeezed her proffered limb with a wide grin. “Pleasure to make your ac-quain-tance!” he said cheerfully. “My name is Cheka! I’m five. Onee-tan, are your boo-boos okay?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Don’t worry.” Yuu hesitantly reached forwards and stroked his fluffy hair. Cheka tilted his head into her hand like a cat. “Cheka-kun, did you come here for the games today?”

“That’s right!” Cheka scooted up to her eagerly, his bracelets jangling with the movement. “Magift is so amazing! I’m gonna get Oji-tan to teach me next time.”

“Your oji-tan must be a really cool guy,” Yuu scratched him behind the ears. His were even softer than Ruggie’s, and this kid was much friendlier.

Cheka lit up. “My Oji-tan’s the best,” he bragged to her, throat starting to rumble as he rubbed his head against her hand. “Did you know? He’s _suuuuper_ strong and he can do _anything!_ ”

“Anything?” Yuu smiled back, “I sure would like to meet him.”

“Then onee-tan, I’ll take you to meet him later on,” Cheka offered. “Since we met today and you offered to help me!”

For a five-year-old, Cheka was unusually articulate, but his friendliness outmatched anyone she’d ever seen in this world. Perhaps because he was a Therianthrope, he was tactile and eager to seek contact. Yuu, who had been missing such contact for over two weeks, relished in the little bundle climbing up on her knees. If he wasn’t going to hold back with the hugging, neither was she.

“Cheka-kun, how did you get into the castle? It’s pretty far away from the Magift field, right?” Yuu patted his hair as he rubbed his cheek sleepily on her athletic uniform. “I’m sure your family is looking for you.”

“U~mm,” Cheka frowned, “family? Well, I did leave behind the people who came with me. ‘Cause I saw Oji-tan.”

“You saw Oji-tan?” Yuu blinked. “You mean he’s someone from the school? Is he in the castle?”

“I think so,” Cheka’s ears pressed adorably against his head as he made a sad puppy face at her. “I can smell him close by, but I got turned around a little and I’m tired.”

Heart seizing with that look, Yuu frantically petted his hair. “Don’t worry Cheka-kun,” she vowed, “onee-tan will help you find Oji-tan for sure, promise.”

“But you’re hurt,” Cheka looked at her arms concernedly, tracing the bandages. “How did you get so hurt, onee-tan? You know it’s against the law to hurt girls.”

“This was more like an accident, and I…”

“And you?” Cheka blinked at her as Yuu trailed off.

“…Um, Cheka-kun,” she said slowly, “why did you think I’m a girl?”

He gave her a confused look. “What do you mean? Big sis is big sis. Right?”

Yuu felt sweat bead on the back of her neck despite the chilly evening darkness. She’d been too preoccupied, caught off guard to notice earlier, but Cheka was convinced she was female. Even though no one in the school had been able to tell her gender—well, except Leona—at first glance, to be found out so quickly by this child was a bit of a shock. How had he figured it out, when she was wearing the scentless formula Leona had given her?

“It’s just…I don’t look very…uh…girly,” she managed weakly to appease the stare.

Cheka wrinkled his brow and thumped his tail on her arm. “What are you talking about, silly onee-tan?” he giggled. “You’re as pretty as a princess from my country.”

“ _What_?” Yuu squeaked. It had been the first time someone praised her looks to her face.

Cheka squinted back, not understanding why she was so panicked. “Onee-tan?”

There was no time to be getting embarrassed over a child’s simple words, Yuu told herself, and it was probably just because this world had educated all people to be kind to women. She shook it from her head and lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Can you keep a secret for me?”

“A secret?” Cheka blinked.

“See, I’m dressed up like a boy right now,” Yuu whispered to him.

He looked even more confused. “Even though you’re so pretty?”

What was with this kid? “Um…sure, whatever,” Yuu muttered quickly. “A-anyway, it’s a secret that I’m a girl, okay, Cheka-kun?”

“Oh!” Cheka’s eyes lit up. “You’re playing pretend, onee-tan?”

“Right. Right. Pretend,” Yuu nodded several times, weakly.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he laughed. “You’re kind of weird, you know.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot.”

“But for some reason, it feels really nice around onee-tan,” Cheka continued, snuggling into her stomach. “It smells good too. That’s why I’m sure you’re a nice person.”

“Cheka-kun, you shouldn’t trust strangers so easily,” Yuu commented.

“Un. I know.” Cheka yawned sleepily as he put his head under her chin. “But I like you anyway. Let’s be friends, onee-tan.”

Yuu’s new friend couldn’t be this cute. She squeezed the lightly dozing Cheka to her in an effort not to release a spontaneous noise and wondered why the sandalwood smell of his hair was so familiar. But if all children were this adorable, she was regretting not volunteering at the shelter back close to her muggle home.

Still, no matter how angelic his sleeping face was, Yuu had to get her thoughts in order. Judging by Cheka’s presence, the Magift tournament was already over and the sky dark enough to spell the beginning of dinnertime. What had happened to Leona? What had happened to Ruggie and Jack and the Heartslabyul group who had fought together with her?

And Grim. Where was he?

Just as Yuu was preparing to set Cheka down on her bed and hobble out of the infirmary, movement from across the room caught her attention. The curtained bed directly across from her trembled briefly before they whipped open with a hiss of metal on metal. Yuu gaped as Leona came into view wearing his athletic uniform, one hand covering a wide yawn. The other was tossing his Pen up and down.

He was fine.

Yuu didn’t know she had been carrying a crushing stone over her chest until it was gone and she could breathe freely. Raking her eyes over his appearance, she saw that his dark skin was bandaged in a few places, but Leona sat cross-legged on his bed with sleep-hooded eyes and looked utterly relaxed for someone who’d just underwent a life-threatening state of insanity.

Her staring had drawn his attention. He glanced over in her direction and froze in place. But before Yuu could open her mouth to warn him _not_ to use his Pen right after an Overblot, before she could muster anything that communicated her relief, she remembered how angry they’d been at each other and swallowed her words.

Right. Yuu had earned his hate severely with only herself to blame.

The warm ball pressed to her front disappeared as Cheka sprinted across her bed and dive-bombed him, shattering the silence. “Oji-tan!” He cheered, his head meeting Leona’s stomach.

Yuu’s mouth fell open as Leona collapsed backwards onto his pillow with a grunt.

“Oji-tan, I _finally_ found you!” Cheka ground his hair into the orange shirt of Savanaclaw’s athletic uniform, clutching Leona for all he was worth. “Leona-oji-tan~!”

“Dammit,” she heard Leona mutter as he covered his face, “not _now_.”

“Your match was _so_ cool!” Cheka climbed up his stomach to sit on his chest comfortably. She could see the energy in his smile from her bed as he peered down into Leona’s face. “When you come back next time, teach me how to do that move you made on the broom!”

Yuu struggled out of her sheets and teetered over to the stool by his bedside. She sat down heavily and watched them, trying to figure out what she was feeling. “Um…” she said weakly, “Leona-senpai, you had a kid?”

Leona sat up abruptly, tipping Cheka into his lap with a squeal and a giggle. “Don’t be _ridiculous_ ,” he sounded almost panicked as he glared earnestly at her. “He’s my _nephew_. Elder brother’s son.”

“Ohhh.” Yuu dragged her noise of understanding out before she gasped. “Wait! He’s Hamlet?”

“That’s right,” Leona fished Cheka upright absently. “And the biggest pain in my butt.”

Cheka laughed delightedly, clinging to his uncle’s arm. Even compared to his friendly attitude towards her, it was obvious that he idolized Leona with shining eyes. “Hey, hey, Oji-tan, when are you gonna come back home?”

Leona’s ears pressed flat to his head. “Don’t scream in my ear,” he growled, though the effect was rather diminished with a five-year-old boy hanging onto him. “…Hey, Cheka. Where are your retainers? Did you run away from them again? They’re probably foaming at the mouth looking for you.”

The obvious note of concern in his voice made Yuu more than sure that he would never harm a hair on this boy’s head.

Leona was no Claudius.

Cheka giggled and motioned him in. “You see,” he said mischievously, “I wanted to see Oji-tan so much I sort of left them behind. Eh heh heh.”

Leona groaned and rubbed at his forehead, but when his nephew began to tip off his lap, scooped him back up with his free arm in a deft move that spoke of familiarity.

“So when are you coming back next?” Cheka bounced, not noticing how Leona had just saved him from tumbling off the bed. “Next week? The week after? Ah! Did you read the letter I sent you?”

“ _Aaah_ ,” Leona emitted in frustration, “I already said it before. I’ll come home during the holiday—ouch, don’t step on my side!”

Yuu, who had been trembling in an effort to keep her laughter down as she sat by the bedside, finally lost control and leaned helplessly against the sheets as she giggled. “Che…Cheka-kun…give your uncle a break…”

“Oh, that’s right!” Cheka plopped back down on Leona’s lap as the latter pushed himself upright and straightened his tied-back hair. “This is my new friend, Oji-tan. She’s pretending to be a boy right now, so don’t tell anyone I told you!”

“…Is that so,” Leona said dryly, raising a brow at her. “It’s been a while since you made a friend, isn’t it, kid?”

“Un.” Cheka nodded solemnly. “But Yuu-onee-tan is good. Plus she’s pretty and smells nice!”

“Cheka-kun,” Yuu protested weakly.

Leona shook his head with a laugh. “You sure know how to get under peoples’ skin, herbivore,” he said tiredly as Cheka burrowed into the space between his arm and side contently.

Yuu ignored him and reached out for his hand instinctively before pulling it back—she couldn’t be so familiar with someone who she’d just fought with. “Are you okay?” she asked in a low voice, searching his face. “Headmaster told me Overblotting really takes it out of someone.”

“You idiot,” Leona said gruffly, reaching forward and hauling Yuu bodily onto the bed beside him, to her astonishment. “You’re the one who got injured. What the hell are you doing out of bed?”

“Huh!?” Yuu yelped, landing on her butt. “I’m fine! You’re more important right now!”

“There isn’t a woman in this world who would say that when she looks this ragged,” he snapped back. “After what I did to you.”

Yuu blinked owlishly at him. “After what you did to me?”

Leona stared at her. “…You’ve got to be fu—”

“ _Language!_ ” Yuu motioned Cheka, who was starting to doze again, with a hiss.

“—you’ve got to be kidding me,” he amended. “Those bandages on your hands are a result of my Unique Magic. Don’t you remember? I won’t let you say you’re not afraid, not after you refused to touch me just now.”

“Afraid!?” Yuu spluttered. “The _reason_ I didn’t was because I thought you hated me!”

Leona looked at her like she was insane. “ _Hate_ you? _You_? Why the hell would I?”

“After all I said? After I insulted you, fought you, disregarded your wishes?” she ticked off her bandaged fingers. “I mean, I’m aware that I behaved pretty badly. It’s just that I couldn’t leave well enough alone and—”

The fluffy tip of Leona’s tail knocked her gently in the nose, cutting Yuu off. “You,” he said incredulously, “really don’t get _anything_ , do you.”

Quietly, so as not to disturb Cheka who was napping in the crook of his arm, Leona explained to her that if it was revealed that she was female, he’d probably be arrested for hurting her. Yuu told him blankly that he hadn’t hurt her at all, whereupon he reached out and squeezed her left arm so she hissed.

“I nearly bit your arm off,” Leona sounded strangely amused, “and you say I didn’t hurt you at all?”

“Well, I was sort of asking for it,” Yuu shrugged. “Plus you gave me a potion afterwards. My wound is almost completely better by now.”

“Yeah, but I used my Unique Magic on you, which damaged your skin and flesh.” He indicated her heavily bandaged fingers. “You can’t say you’re not afraid of me now.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” she said flatly.

Leona scoffed. His eyes told her just how much he believed her.

Yuu turned around on the bed so she was facing him, because this topic deserved the earnestness that showed him respect. “I know it’s a dangerous magic,” she told him solemnly. “And you’ve proven how powerful you are to us all. You could send this entire castle down…you could drain the water from every single student here until they shrivelled into a husk of skin.”

“Exactly,” Leona said quietly.

“But you’re better than that.”

He hadn’t been expecting those words—surprised green eyes met hers in the dark infirmary.

“Sure, I don’t really know you that well,” Yuu hastily added. “Like you said—I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through. But you’ve never hurt anyone. Never even used your Unique Magic until today since I met you. Of all people in the world to possess this magic, you’re probably the least likely to lose control of it.”

“You’re saying it’s a _good_ thing I have this magic?” Leona spat.

“That’s not for me to decide,” Yuu shook her head. “But with all tools, it can be used for good or for bad. I personally think that no one else could use a powerful spell like yours better than you can.”

Leona stared at his hand in silence. Yuu watched his tail thump against her leg slowly and wondered why he wasn’t asking her about her own magic, why he wasn’t blaming her for what she’d done. But it didn’t seem like he hated her.

After all this, she thought, he still was kind.

Eventually he let out a quiet laugh. “You’re still here,” he mumbled as if to himself. “After I nearly killed you.”

“ _You_ nearly died,” Yuu pointed out a little sleepily. “As if I could just let you believe that you had no value like an idiot.”

“Normal people would give up,” Leona remarked. “Even idiots wouldn’t risk their own lives trying to stop my Overblot. Why would you go this far?”

“Why?” Yuu repeated, furrowing a brow in thought. But no matter how hard she puzzled, Yuu could not find a satisfactory reason for why she had chased Leona this far despite him telling her to stop.

“Right,” Leona grunted. “I forgot you were emotionally stunted.”

“Does it matter?” Yuu said a little irritably. “So what if I’m stupid. You’re alive, aren’t you? Next we’re gonna work on your whole ‘I’ll never be valuable’ thing because that’s the biggest lie in the world.”

“That so.”

“Right. There are so many people who care about you—”

“—And what about you?”

Yuu met his quiet gaze confusedly. “…What about me?”

Leona showed her a wicked grin that revealed his teeth. “You sure like me a lot, don’t you, herbivore,” he drawled, “after flinging yourself in the air and nearly killing yourself more than once just so you could stop me from killing _my_ self.”

“Well, yeah, I guess…” Yuu scratched her head, a little embarrassed, “but I always thought my meddling just pissed you off.”

“We’re not used to people caring, you and me,” Leona said absently, “we just don’t know how to deal with it.”

He looked so empty in that moment that Yuu snatched his fingers with her bandaged hand angrily.

“—Oi!” Leona pulled it back. He looked almost panicked. “You _want_ me to turn you to sand? I could murder you!”

“You won’t do something so stupid,” Yuu snapped, hanging on to the limb doggedly. “I’m not letting go until you stop rolling around in self-pity. Get used to people caring about you.”

“You’re insane,” Leona spat back. “I warned you how dangerous I was.”

“I don’t fricking care,” Yuu told him, abandoning any scruples she had and scooting right up to his side to show him just how unafraid she was. “Go ahead, turn me to sand, you big bad monster.”

Leona seemed torn between an angry growl and helpless laughter. Still, to her secret relief, he didn’t shove her away. Yuu had been careful not to let her need for physical contact extend to someone who liked solitude so much, but she was too tired to care right now and too thankful that he was back to normal. Like all Therianthropes, his skin held a particular warmth that banished the chill of October’s night as his fingers curled around hers. Yuu sighed out a shuddering breath of relief and put her head in his shoulder.

She dozed for a while. Everything hurt, but more than that, Yuu had not slept well the past couple of nights without Grim. Now that it was warm again, her body was eager to gain back the rest it had lost.

Some time later, a hiss of the metal loops against the bar of the curtain pushed her from her sleep. Yuu felt more than heard Leona say something in a low voice before Ruggie’s tenor cut through the silence of the infirmary with a yawn.

The memory of his arm cracking and bleeding sped through her mind, pushing her into wakefulness. Yuu yanked her head upright and nearly fell over Leona’s legs in her haste to get a better look at him. “Ruggie-senpai are you okay!?”

The hyena, who was sitting on the bed to their left, gaped at her, eyes still laden with sleep. “Wha? Yuu-kun! Why are you here…You finally woke up!”

“Finally?” she repeated.

“You nearly gave us a heart attack when Jack-kun flung you into the air, moron,” he snapped, crossing his arms. “Are you suicidal or something? You could’ve died!”

“Oh yeah.” Yuu recalled. Leona fished her up by the back of her shirt and arranged her upright. “What happened afterwards? I totally missed the match, didn’t I?”

“You went headfirst into Leona-san, that’s what,” Ruggie said dryly, mouth twitching with the memory. “Knocked both of you right out.”

She winced and peeked up at the Dorm Head. “…Sorry.”

“Please, you weigh as much as a cat,” Leona snorted.

“Says the guy who lost consciousness because of that cat,” Ruggie smirked. “Well, after that, the Headmaster showed up and got really angry at us for hurting his precious Directing Student. You know he was gonna suspend us from school? Flinging his whip around and stuff?”

“Headmaster Crowley was?” Yuu craned her neck over to stare at him. “Why?”

“Crowley’s unusually fond of you,” Leona mentioned. “Well…he didn’t manage to do anything. In the end, those Heartslabyul kids made him retract the suspension and got all of Savanaclaw to participate in the games instead.”

“That doesn’t seem like something they’d do,” Yuu said weakly. Neither Ace, Deuce, nor Riddle were that ‘nice’.

“Oh yeah, I underestimated how nasty Heartslabyul kids could be,” Ruggie snickered, lacing his fingers behind his messy hair. At the movement, she noticed a long bandage covering the arm that had been sucked dry by Leona’s Unique Magic.

“Nasty?” Yuu repeated, thinking it had been rather the opposite.

“Those kids made it a point to drag us out, still injured, into the coliseum,” Leona explained, “and then ruthlessly beat us down with magic in front of national television. Knowing I was still recovering from Blot.”

“What!” Were they not afraid he’d get kicked into a second Overblot? “Why the heck would they do that? Revenge for Trey-senpai?”

“ _Why?_ ” Ruggie repeated in disbelief.

“Just give it up,” Leona told him with a shake of his head. “The herbivore doesn’t get interpersonal relationships.”

“It’s _my_ problem?” Yuu pointed at herself.

“The Queen’s vice Dorm Head was pissed at you,” Leona told her. “Think about that for a second.”

Why would Trey be angry at her? Yuu squinted, feeling as if she was forgetting something. Trey didn’t seem like he could be angry at anyone. Not even Riddle before his Overblot.

“Are you serious?” Ruggie gave her a disgusted look. “I thought this kid was oblivious from before, but I didn’t know it was _this_ bad.”

“He’s gone through some shit,” Leona shrugged. “Cut him some slack.”

Before Yuu could ask him what he meant, Cheka snuffled from Leona’s other side and blinked his big liquid brown eyes open. “Oji-tan?”

Leona grunted in answer. “Go back to bed.”

Ruggie released an undignified choking noise when he caught sight of the child and nearly fell off his bed. “Why’s there a kid in your arms!? Leona-san, don’t tell me!”

“…He’s my _nephew_ ,” Leona said shortly as Cheka climbed up on his lap again.

“ _Nephew!?_ ”

Yuu watched as Ruggie put the pieces together in his head, trying not to laugh. The hyena glanced back between Cheka and Leona rapidly before covering his mouth with both hands. “The source of all your troubles…” he said slowly, “is an innocent angel?”

“Plus Cheka-kun _loves_ Leona-senpai,” Yuu added with a grin.

“No way,” a slow smile spread across his face. “This kid is the real deal!”

Cheka blinked up at Ruggie guilelessly from Leona’s lap. “Are you Oji-tan’s friend?” he asked.

“Pfft… _ku ku ku_ …yeah, that’s right,” Ruggie managed, trembling behind his hands as he fought for a measure of vocal stability. “Oji-tan’s friend.”

“I’ll kill _you_ ,” Leona growled quietly, shooting metaphorical daggers in his direction. Once again, his arm stretched out protectively to keep Cheka from tumbling off his lap ruined the effect quite nicely.

“This is too good,” Ruggie wiped tears of mirth from his eyes, totally ignoring him. “The first one in line for the throne is a li’l furball! No wonder you couldn’t do anything!”

Leona bared his canines at the hyena but didn’t make good on his threat. Ruggie himself, who had been injured by Leona in addition to being abandoned after he’d done all he could to help him, didn’t look angry at all. The two of them traded glances full of understanding and familiarity and Yuu could see the moment when everything was put behind them. Clearly, whatever relationship they’d had prior to this had not been damaged in the Overblot.

They said they weren’t ‘friends’—yet to her, there was nothing that displayed their bond stronger than that simple glance.

Yuu, who was stuck to Leona’s other side and grinning foolishly at them, froze briefly as Cheka began to climb across over to her. “I got to meet two of Oji-tan’s friends today,” he said cheerfully, reaching up for a hug. “You two both like Oji-tan a lot! But it’s my first time seeing a human be friends with a Therianthrope so I’m kind of surprised.”

“Is that rare?” Yuu asked him, transferring her smile to him and reaching out to accept the ball of energy. This kid was so cute.

“You really don’t know anything,” Ruggie sounded more fond than surprised. “But that’s what the furball…that’s what the Crown Prince thinks, now, ain’t it?”

“I’m not too sure, but we don’t see many humans in the palace or the kingdom,” Cheka explained matter-of-factly as Yuu petted his head obligingly. “And even less pretty girls like onee-tan!”

The air froze solid.

Oblivious to the bomb he’d just dropped into the room, Cheka continued cheerfully as he pressed to her stomach, “And you aren’t scared of Oji-tan at all. I don’t think I’ve ever seen _anyone_ except for you and this friend here who were so friendly with him! Kinda jealous but…”

“W-why, Cheka-kun,” Yuu fought for calm as she burst into a cold sweat, “What are you talking about? I go to school here. A boy’s school.”

“…Oops,” Cheka laughed, covering his mouth with both hands. “I forgot we were playing pretend!”

“Kids sure say the darndest things, right, Leona-senpai?” Yuu motioned at him frantically with her eyes.

Leona reclined against his pillow, making even the simple infirmary bed look regal as he smiled meanly in her direction. “Give it up, herbivore. Ruggie can smell your lie from here. You should practice more if you wanna fool a Therianthrope’s nose.”

Making an uncharacteristic whimpering noise, Yuu hesitantly peeked in the direction of the hyena who was still sitting on the edge of the bed. Honestly, she had been too afraid to meet his gaze because she’d tricked him for so long—but there was a chance he wouldn’t care. It wasn’t like being a girl was a big…

Her hopes were dashed when she met two huge grey eyes widened in a pale face.

Ruggie’s ear-piercing shout filled the infirmary. “ _WHAAAAAT?!_ ”

—

It took quite a while and a ton of inaudible muttering for Ruggie to recover from his shock. Cheka didn’t help when he squinted at him, unimpressed, and mercilessly asked, “You couldn’t tell? When onee-tan’s this pretty?”

Ruggie collapsed on his bed, clutching his head feverishly. “What? No way. But then it makes sense the smell…way too soft to be…but still! _Punched him_! Her! And she…”

“Please don’t tell on me!” Yuu herself was a little panicked. She knew exactly what his personality was like—Ruggie would never miss an opportunity to earn himself some benefit. He had a big piece of information over her head now and could probably single-handedly expel her from the school.

But Ruggie didn’t seem to hear her. Hanging over the edge of the bed, his calf-length track capris kicked back and forth over skinny legs as he stopped making noise altogether.

Leona sighed and pulled her down as she tried to jump over his legs. “Don’t worry,” he rolled his eyes, “After all Savana put you through, even Ruggie won’t snitch on you. Not that I’d let him.”

“…Okay.” Yuu settled back into his side. “Promise you won’t let him?”

“On my word,” Leona told her solemnly. “…Anyway, herbivore, didn’t you say Crowley knew you were female? Who else did you say was aware? Crewel?”

Yuu shot glances over at a stupefied Ruggie worriedly. “That’s right, Professor Crewel does. Actually, he figured out before even you did, apparently.”

“Crewel, huh. I was sure that you would’ve been found out by everyone else by now, but he might have…” he remarked. “Hmm. No wonder. Should better keep an eye on him.”

“What did you say?” Yuu strained her ears to better hear his muttering.

Leona shook his head. “…Anyway, you seem to be unaware, but you’re way too small and delicate to be mistaken as a teenage boy.”

“Really? I don’t think so,” Yuu frowned, “I’m just…some boring extra. It’s not like people pay enough attention to me to figure out.”

“And you just _let_ them!?” Ruggie jerked upright, hair sticking up in all directions from where he’d pulled it. “You didn’t think _maybe_ I should tell _anyone_ that I’m a girl in an all-boy’s school!?”

“Well I didn’t really have a choice,” Yuu explained, examining his hysterical postulating cautiously as she covered a dozing Cheka’s ears. “You see, I have nowhere to go.”

It was probably the tidal hour now to explain. Yuu owed both him and Leona an account about her magic—about her, period. It was becoming a burden to keep information from these two people whom she liked so much, so she cautioned them of the length of her story before she began.

Ruggie had been white as a Ghost. But as Yuu explained to him her arrival here from between worlds, about the secretive wizarding society she was a part of, the laws against revealing magic at any cost, and her stranding in this world without any way to get back, he surpassed pale and started to turn blue.

“Information overload,” he said weakly when she was done. “What the hell is this, a fantasy novel?”

“Every time I hear the world-travelling thing I’m impressed that you didn’t just explode into atoms,” Leona said thoughtfully. “Though the magic explanation is new.”

“Right, magic. You were _wicked_ strong in the battle earlier.” Ruggie nodded emphatically, distracted. “I’ve never seen stuff like that. Where’ve you been hiding it all the whole time?”

“I try not to use it visibly. It’s really taboo.”

Leona blinked and nudged her with his tail. “You broke your laws to fight me?”

“So far I haven’t been arrested,” Yuu said sheepishly, “so I think maybe our Ministry can’t get access to me in this world. But underage and untrained wizards and witches are punished pretty severely for using magic because of its danger.”

Ruggie was more concerned about other matters. “A little girl…falls into an alien world with no one to help her and fricking…” he groaned and put his head in his hands. “And fricking gets physically abused by a bunch of bullies from Savanaclaw…”

“I wasn’t _abused_ , it was just initiation or whatever they call it,” Yuu protested.

“Leona-san, you knew he…she was a girl this whole time?” Ruggie swung his head over to the Dorm Head wildly. “And I fricking caused a _sprain_ …I’m gonna get murdered…I’m gonna get arrested…”

“But you didn’t do it on purpose.” Yuu watched his fit bemusedly.

“You don’t get the societal structure of this world,” Ruggie snapped at her. “Hyena cackles are matriarchal, and don’t get me started on lion prides. If anyone finds out that you’re a girl and someone _punched_ you, Savanaclaw is gonna become a damn execution ground.”

“Then don’t tell anyone, please,” Yuu said eagerly, “and we can forget this all happened.”

“Forget? _Forget?_ ” Ruggie’s voice rose into a squeak. “Leona-san _help_ me. Actually, how the hell did you let all this happen when you knew her gender!? Did you see the stuff she went through!?”

Leona ran a hand through his hair in irritation. “You think I didn’t want to?” he snapped back. “But the herbivore has her pride too. I can’t interfere when she made it so clear she wanted to earn her worth on her own terms.”

“Leona-senpai,” Yuu mumbled in surprise. She had no idea he had been holding her opinions in such high regard.

“Sorry, I can’t…I can’t take all of this in right now.” Ruggie put up both hands and sucked in a long breath. “Yuu-kun. You’ve got to get it through your thick skull that _women are the leaders_ here. Not just in the Savannah, though our cackles…packs are more clear-cut. The world. Twisted Wonderland’s first rule is to respect and favour women and you’ve made an entire school break that unwritten law. Do you understand?”

Yuu met his solemn blue gaze blankly. “Um, not really.”

“It’s useless, Ruggie.” Leona shook his head. “The herbivore’s got a complex and probably some trauma that’s destroyed her sense of self-worth. Even if you rant about the value of women, she won’t be able to see any in herself.”

“Seriously?” Ruggie sighed. “I mean I knew there was something off about her but I didn’t know it was _that_ …and Leona-san, you’ve sure thought about this.”

“Idiot. It’s not just you who’d be in huge shit if word got out she was a girl.”

“I’m right here,” Yuu put up a hand. “Also, are you psychoanalyzing me? I didn’t suffer any trauma. I’m a normal person.”

“Anyway, lemme get this straight, okay?” Ruggie completely ignored her. “Yuu-kun comes from a world…I still don’t believe you but just suspending my doubt for a second…a different world. One without magic except for a tiny hidden population.”

“Right,” Yuu nodded.

“And it’s strictly forbidden to reveal magic to anyone outside of that little group.”

“Right.”

“But you do it anyway,” Leona teased her with a grin.

“I didn’t know what else to do,” Yuu muttered, “I had to get you to open your eyes somehow.”

“You’re so dumb,” Leona pressed his thumb into her forehead.

“And after getting accepted into NRC, instead of telling anyone you were a girl and here by mistake, you just went along with this whole new world thing and slept in Ramshackle…holy shit…the Headmaster forced a _girl_ to live in a _shack_.” Ruggie looked on the edge of hyperventilation. “You know if you’d just said you were a girl everyone would have rushed to help you.”

“Why?” Yuu asked. “First of all, I didn’t notice it was a boy’s school until like a month ago.”

“Are you an _idiot_?” Ruggie and Leona synchronized perfectly.

“But I wasn’t aware that women were so highly valued here, and if I’d revealed my gender I was concerned I would be the one arrested or kicked out without any means of survival,” Yuu explained matter-of-factly. “Plus, it’s not like there’s a big difference if I’m a boy or a girl. Being at a disadvantage magically is already big enough to overcome. If I reveal my gender I was pretty sure I was gonna get bullied to death.”

Leona blinked slowly. “The way you say that almost makes it seem as if your society doesn’t value women at all.”

“I mean, they pretend to,” Yuu shrugged, “but in a lot of the countries in a world, women can’t even reveal their faces without getting whipped. If a girl is harassed, it’s somehow her fault since she asked for it. The wage gap between men and women is very high and there’s generally a discriminatory label that prevents them to gain higher positions in society in any job.”

Both Therianthropes were silent by the time she finished. On Leona’s dark skin, his pallor looked unhealthy. “…Your world sounds like hell,” Ruggie managed after a second. “And you lived in it for your whole life? With that tiny little breakable body?”

“…No wonder you didn’t ask for help,” Leona said quietly.

“It’s not hell, it’s just normal.” Yuu shrugged. “So I would really appreciate if you didn’t tell anyone, Ruggie-senpai.”

The hyena shook his head slowly. “…Sorry, Yuu-kun, I can’t do that.”

Yuu’s heart fell into her stomach. “What?”

“Aah, don’t look like that, I’m not gonna snitch,” Ruggie hastened to correct as she stared at him. “But Yuu-kun, there’s no need for you to suffer like this anymore. Don’t injure yourself so needlessly—don’t live in that trash heap they call Ramshackle Dorm. Listen, I’ve got a lot of connections. We can figure out something together to get you out of here.”

“Ruggie, you…” Leona started, voice rising in surprise.

“But I have nothing to give you,” Yuu wrinkled her brow at him. “Why would you try to help me?”

“You _saved_ my life,” Ruggie told her like it was obvious, “and you’re…a girl. I’ve gotta help you.”

There it was again. That gap.

Yuu shook her head. “I don’t want it.”

“Huh!?”

“First of all, this school has a huge library. Have you seen it? It’s got a ton of resources about the Mirror that sent me here,” Yuu told him, trying to push down that feeling of…something heavy in her stomach. “If I’m trying to figure out a way back home, it’s probably going to be found here.”

“…Way back…” Ruggie repeated quietly.

Leona’s fingers tightened on her side briefly.

“And second…” she hesitated, struggled with her words. “it’s…I don’t want you to treat me like a girl from this world. It might be normal to protect them, help them, put them on a pedestal…but I’m not anyone to value like that.”

“Are you kidding me? Yuu-kun—”

“If you really can’t get over my gender,” Yuu cut across him loudly, “then help me find some potion that’ll turn me into a boy for real. Then we don’t have to worry about this stupid issue anymore.”

Leona’s tail thumped her on the forehead. “Idiot,” he drawled, “I said before that potions dealing with transformation of the body are illegal if used unchecked.”

“Your world is so backwards if it can’t even do gender transformations,” Yuu growled back.

Ruggie made a frustrated noise. “You can’t just! Aargh!”

“Why is he in such a tizzy about this?” Yuu asked Leona a little despondently. “It’s not like I could’ve chosen the gender I was born.”

“Anyone would feel some sort of pity when looking at an injured girl lying in a hospital bed,” he rolled his eyes at her. “I don’t know what you did to him, but Ruggie likes you more than I expected. Get used to people caring.”

“But you guys won’t treat me like one of you,” Yuu muttered childishly. “Just because I’m a girl, you’re all…different. I thought Ruggie-senpai was my friend. If you change your attitudes just because of my gender then I don’t want to be a girl.”

Ruggie dropped his hands, staring at her in surprise, before he scooted off his bed and jogged all the way around to sit on the edge of theirs, squishing her and a napping Cheka into Leona’s side. The double bed groaned under the weight of three people and a child.

“Oi,” Leona snapped.

“Yuu-kun,” Ruggie peered down into her face, ignoring him, “is the reason you don’t want to get kicked out of the school because you’re going to miss us? You like us that much?”

“Miss?” Yuu tasted the word slowly. It fell into place in her chest. “Oh.”

“You couldn’t _tell_?”

“I…I didn’t really have good friends before this,” Yuu hastened to explain at his shell-shocked expression. “But for the first time at this school I’ve met people who I like as much as Ace and Deuce and you, Ruggie-senpai…”

“Oi. What about me?” Leona grumbled from beside her.

“And Leona-senpai,” Yuu rolled her eyes. “You’re probably right. I don’t…I don’t want to leave when I like you all so much. So…when you treat me like a girl or something…it just feels so…”

“You li’l dummy,” Ruggie burst out exasperatedly, pulling her over to him, “I don’t think any _less_ of you. Stop looking like an abandoned cub, you… Okay, fine! I won’t tell anyone if you really want to be here so much. You gotta tell me these things if you want me to understand!”

“I don’t even understand myself,” Yuu mumbled.

“Truer words have never been spoken,” Leona quipped.

Contact helped with that ugly feeling in her chest. Last time she’d given Ruggie an impromptu ear-scratching, he’d been the one leaned against her shoulder—this time it was the opposite and her nose was shoved into the track jacket smelling of dirt and wind and laundry detergent. Still, despite his boniness, Ruggie was warm and he’d reached for her so naturally.

“Um, Ruggie-senpai,” Yuu said hesitantly into his shoulder, “you aren’t mad at me for tricking you?”

“About what? About the magic or about your gender?” Ruggie’s large hand patted her back in a soothing rhythm. “Hell yeah, I’m mad. I’m pissed that I didn’t figure it out by myself. Honestly, the clues were there and I just thought it was too outlandish.”

“You got that right,” Leona snickered as he pulled Cheka from her lap to settle him in a safer spot. “It’s one thing if she looks like a man, but there aren’t many people on this planet who are as girly as the herbivore.”

“Excuse me?” Yuu was not convinced. “What about Pomefiore?”

“You haven’t seen any of those guys,” Ruggie’s shoulders trembled in a laugh. “They might look kinda pretty but they’re all gorillas. Even that first year in the Magift team can punch with the best of ‘em.”

“It’s probably due to Pomefiore’s looks that you haven’t been found out yet,” Leona said thoughtfully. “Still, apart from your despairingly flat chest, it’s pretty obvious even if you don’t have a good nose.”

“Leona-san, that’s sexual harassment,” Ruggie sang, pulling her farther away from him.

Leona yanked her backwards with his tail. “Shut up. It’s the truth.”

“Oh, that’s just because of the enchanted underwear Professor Crewel gave me,” Yuu explained. “Convenient, right?”

“You can get angry at him, you know,” Ruggie sighed. “…Never mind. I should’ve expected Yuu-kun to be this kind of person.”

“Huh. So you’re not flat?” Leona pulled her out of his grasp and stared at her chest rather rudely.

“Seriously, any other girl would’ve slapped you,” Ruggie muttered.

“I used to wear a protector since we deal with magical creatures and having two protrusions sort of gets in the way, but Professor Crewel yelled at me about destroying my growth,” Yuu explained.

“Two protrusions,” Ruggie choked.

“So he gave me a whole set that hides the line of my body magically. We don’t really have enchanted underwear back in my world, so I was really impressed.”

Ruggie slapped the back of her head gently. “Stop repeating the word underwear in front of the opposite gender, dummy. It’s immodest.”

“Sorry?” Yuu wrinkled her nose. Come to think of it, this world ran on monarchies. She supposed the concept of modesty was also different. “But that means Leona-senpai’s being rude too, right? Stop staring at my chest.”

“You’re in disguise, aren’t you?” Leona said unrepentantly, yawning. “It’s not like there’s anything to see. Come back without the magic underwear and _then_ we’ll talk.”

Yuu remembered Fred saying something about healthy teenage boys being obsessed with women’s chests. Even if Leona was twenty, she supposed the same rule applied to him. “You know I’m not that impressive, right?” she warned him.

“We have to do something about Yuu-kun’s education,” moaned Ruggie. “She’s gonna just _let_ this fricking pervert second prince say anything he wants.”

“I can have you beheaded for insulting me,” Leona said lazily. “And it’s not the size that matters.”

“Leona-san,” Ruggie said pleasantly, “if you don’t stop staring at Yuu-kun right now I’m going to Fool’s March you right off the bed.”

The three of them talked into the night, briefly interrupted when several formally dressed men stormed into the room looking for Cheka and sweating profusely. Cheka asked her to come visit sleepily as he was handed over to one of the retainers, who kept a wide berth from Leona and refused to raise their heads. Ruggie gave them unimpressed looks and told Leona that the palace guys really didn’t look like much.

Yuu was still so relieved that Leona was okay and that Ruggie hadn’t hated her for tricking him that she refused to let either of them go. None of them seemed to mind, since Ruggie had a lot to say to Leona about the whole debacle that had landed the three of them in here.

She listened sleepily and learned that post-Overblot, Crowley had burst into the scene with a wave of his cape, angrily withdrawing Savanaclaw from the tournament while brandishing his ‘whip of love’. He had been prepared to suspend Leona and Ruggie from the tournament entirely. Riddle was the one to stop him and Trey the one to suggest forcing Savanaclaw to participate despite their injuries, citing the rule that any ban on offensive magic was lifted during a match.

Consequently, while Yuu was carried off to the infirmary by the Headmaster, Heartslabyul and several of Ruggie’s victims soundly thrashed Leona’s team in an exhibition match which Grim participated in with enthusiasm. Diasomnia faced them right after, all of the players in top shape to contrast with Savanaclaw’s battered team. The results did not need to be said.

“It pisses me off that not a single one of Diasomnia’s students had to be carried in here,” Ruggie commented. “Still, your little friends went so overboard in their match that they made a mess of the arena and got roped into helping with cleanup.”

“Those bastards didn’t hold back at all,” Leona shook his head in reluctant admiration. “This year’s Heartslabyul kids have some terrible personalities.”

“Clean-up,” Yuu repeated. So that was why Grim and Ace and Deuce were nowhere to be seen. She didn’t want to know how much work was involved in cleaning the giant coliseum.

“Actually, with how touchy you are with the two first-year brats, it’s almost unnatural that they haven’t noticed your gender, Yuu-kun,” Ruggie said thoughtfully.

“Probably ‘cause she’s so flat they would never expect it,” Leona commented. Ruggie smacked him.

Still, despite their ignominious defeat, neither Ruggie nor Leona looked remotely downhearted. The dull look in the latter’s eyes was gone as if it had never existed in the first place—instead, Leona bantered back and forth spiritedly with Ruggie about how well they’d planned this year’s efforts.

“We put all we had into this year’s tournament,” Leona said with his signature cynical grin. “Next year, we’re gonna do it again. And actually succeed.”

“ _Shi shi shi_.” Ruggie’s laugh shook the entire bed. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you, Leona-san.”

“How about you figure out how to graduate first?” Yuu quipped.

“And you,” Leona rolled his eyes, “need to finish that plan we started by then.”

For a second, Yuu had no clue what he was saying, but Ruggie made a noise of realization. “You mean that plan Yuu-kun was debating with everyone about making a new country from the malcontents within the kingdom? Wait, she was serious?”

Leona yawned. “That’s right,” he said in satisfaction. “The herbivore here is gonna figure out a way for me to become king, after all.”

“Hey, you ripped my notebook with the plan into shreds,” Yuu protested.

“You were asking for it.” He smirked at her. “What, giving up so easily? Are you gonna choose Elder Brother and Cheka over me after all?”

“What the heck are you even talking about,” Yuu snapped, “I already told you I think you’d be an excellent leader. I don’t know anything about Cheka-kun and your older brother and I don’t care about them so stop bringing them up in the conversation.”

“You know saying stuff like that about the king is tantamount to treason,” Ruggie mentioned, looking amused.

“I’m not from your country or your world so it doesn’t matter. Plus, Ruggie-senpai was the first one to insult the king earlier,” Yuu rolled her eyes at him. “Didn’t you say Leona-senpai was the better ruler, too?”

“He~h?” Leona’s grin widened. “Is that so, Ruggie? I had no idea you thought so highly of me.”

“Oh, shut up,” Ruggie grumbled, embarrassed. “…Compared to those self-righteous idiots, it’s obviously you who’d make a better king.”

“You say I’ve got no sense of self value,” Yuu told him cheekily, “but I can turn that right back at you. Everyone from Savanaclaw is ready to follow you anywhere, you know.”

Leona regarded the two of them without his smirk. “To think that there would be people who would consider me number one,” he murmured quietly. “And here, of all places.”

“What kind of moronic things are you saying?” Ruggie glared at him. “Just because the kingdom’s full of nitwits who fear you doesn’t mean idiots like Yuu-kun don’t exist.”

“Me!?” Yuu yelped.

“I’ve never seen anyone run _towards_ me when I used my Unique Magic,” Leona nodded, to her surprise. “I seriously doubted my eyes back then.”

“But you were going to Overblot,” Yuu said flatly. “That’s dangerous, you know.”

“See? This kid,” Ruggie squeezed her bandaged arm, “Is the kind of person that put you in first place above her own life, above the laws of her world, above your brother, above the danger of fighting your Overblot form. And you’re wondering at being put first?”

“When you say it like that, it sounds a lot bigger of a deal than it actually is,” Yuu said weakly.

“You could have _died_ ,” Leona and Ruggie ground out simultaneously.

“But you’re feeling better,” Yuu frowned.

The former pressed a hand to his brow. “…You know what, Ruggie? You’re right. This kid is stupid enough to put me first.”

“See? We’ve gotta do something about her,” Ruggie nodded, trading indecipherable glances with him. “I bet you if you don’t keep an eye on her she’s gonna wander right off our territory.”

“We can’t have that, can we?” Leona drawled.

“I’m right here, you know?” Yuu put up a hand. “Also, what are you talking about?”

“Don’t worry,” Ruggie reassured her, settling down more comfortably under the covers with a yawn. “We’ll figure it out, Yuu-kun.”

“Figure what out?”

“Never you mind.” Ruggie tugged her down. “C’mon, it’s past midnight and you’re injured. Tomorrow I’m gonna have to redo these bandages, aren’t I? Seriously, you need to make sure you don’t scar. You’re a girl, you know.”

“Are you my mom?” Yuu rolled her eyes at him as she fell on her back. Leona was already lying on the other pillow, yawning.

It felt like they’d gone back to his bedroom as they chewed on trail mix—to the botanical gardens warm with afternoon sun as the three of them passed time talking and playing chess and eating sweets. These past two weeks had been stressful enough to make that memory seem idyllic.

“I missed you guys, too,” Yuu said into the dark infirmary. Another new feeling.

Ruggie sighed. “Shut up and go to sleep.” His voice was gentle.

“Number one, huh…” Leona reached forward to tuck her hair behind her ear. “Only you’d be stupid enough to push me onto the throne.”

“Everyone who doesn’t see your value are the stupid ones,” Yuu muttered drowsily, catching the hand with hers. “When you’re this beautiful.”

Her eyes drifted shut. It was warm enough to make the chilly fall night seem like an illusion. Relief and bone-deep exhaustion pulled her towards sleep eagerly.

“Don’t forget your promise, Yuu,” she heard from a distance. “Lions don’t trust easily…but they take betrayal even more seriously.”

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
>  **Edited |** December 31st, 2020 for grammar, spelling, and minor details.
> 
> —
> 
> **Definitions |**
> 
> _matsuri (祭り)_ | literally ‘festival’ but means a specifically Japanese-style festival, usually taking place during warmer seasons, when people of all ages gather in the evenings at local areas that are filled with booths selling festival-specific food, shooting game tickets, goldfish-scooping, etc. Sometimes there is a fireworks show at the very end. The booths along the road to the Magift Coliseum resemble this during the daytime!
> 
>  _Unleash the Beast (月夜を破る遠吠え)_ | Actually spelt _Unleash Beast_ in the original Japanese but that’s just incorrect grammar. So I’ve taken the liberty of inserting a ‘the’ 😂. Jack’s Unique Magic.
> 
>  _Jack’s height (when he is a wolf)_ | grey wolves don’t usually get too much bigger than 160 centimetres, according to multiple online sources. However, if you take into Jack’s usual height (192 cm) and according weight, he is probably going to outsize a regular wolf when he transforms. Yuu herself is comparatively small for a human so she is able to sit on his shoulders, which are the broadest part of a wolf’s anatomy. I have no idea how big Jack’s wolf form really is (and though the anthology sort of gives an example, it is far from official art) so I’m going to leave it up for SOME interpretation.
> 
>  _otto (おっと)_ | an interjection. Hard to translate. A bit masculine; basically sort of means ‘whoops’ or ‘oh’ or ‘watch out’ or ‘got you’ or something.
> 
>  _onee-tan (おねえたん)_ | actually the correct spelling is onee-san, but when young children learn Japanese, they tend to stumble over their words for a while. This has nothing to do with growing teeth. (The Japanese call it having a ‘clumsy tongue [舌足らず・呂律が回らない]’; drunk people and half-asleep people also tend to mispronounce the ‘s’ and ‘r’ sounds in Japanese a lot. Stumbling over a word is often referred to as ‘biting their tongue’ even though they didn’t bite anything…) What Cheka calls Yuu. Trivia: Here, Cheka’s sense of smell is stronger than even Leona’s. The direct Kingscholar line is nothing to scoff at! More trivia: Cheka is 103~ centimetres. The average height of a 5-year-old boy (according to the CDC) is close to 109 cm! By the way, Grim’s 70 cm and stands a little taller than Yuu’s knees.
> 
>  _oji-tan (おじたん)_ | actually is supposed to be oji-san but (TL;DR see above definition). What Cheka calls Leona. It could be a respectful way to call ‘uncle’ (meaning the kanji is 叔父さん) or maybe it’s just the less respectful ‘mister’ (just katakana おじさん). Judging by Cheka’s education it’s probably the former.
> 
>  _un (うん)_ | the ‘casual speech’ way to say yes (はい). Usually used by children or among those familiar with each other regardless of gender (more popular among feminine speech patterns?). Cheka uses this, but the interesting thing about Japanese speech patterns is that I don’t think characters like Leona ever would (unless he’s drunk or something. Even then?).
> 
> —
> 
> Over ten…ELEVEN THOUSAND VIEWS? 😱😱😱😱😱 Is this the real life? Is it just fantasy? Caught in a landslide…Why are you so good to me??? I don’t know what I did to deserve this... I must be blessed with the best group of readers on this planet! Thank you for your amazing responses every single chapter!
> 
> Has anyone read the first anthology that came out on the 27th yet? I had no clue it’d be so serious towards the end. Riddle…Ace…aaargggghhh! (It was really good.) Now management needs to hurry up and get the next Episodes out so I can read an anthology full of Scarabia and Ignihyde. Please 🥺🥺
> 
> —
> 
> Surprisingly, there was interest for any social media I participate in—just in case anyone else cares, the only place I lurk (outside pixiv/niconico) is Twitter (@twsttanoshii) where I collect fanart and freak out during events/story chapters. Check out my profile for the link!
> 
> If anyone is interested in asking me (1) progress on story (2) opinions on characters & game (3) card translations, story translations or (4) anything at all, please do not even hesitate to send me a DM or Tweet! DMs are good if you want to ask me something/talk about something without anyone else seeing your message. I can even set up a Marshmallow/odaibako/fusetter box (or whatever English-speaking Twitter uses for anonymous messaging) if you want to be completely anonymous. I love comments like Idia loves video games, so be as casual as you want in contacting me! (What do people think is easiest to use? A Discord channel??)
> 
> —
> 
> My final exams are next week, so the next update will be on December 18th, which happens to be Idia’s birthday!
> 
> Two Overblots down! Woohoo! (Woohoo?) Thank you very much for reading. Please leave a comment below and tell me what you thought!
> 
> —


	13. A Misfortunate Person.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuu stands trial for her misdemeanours at the orders of Riddle and his Cards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
> Happy Birthday, Idia! 🔥 Your dedication to your work is admirable, but listen to Ortho and go outside…or to class…every once in a while!
> 
> —
> 
>  **A note about the Twisted timeline |** So far, the second Episode’s dates haven’t changed in this story…at least not broadly.
> 
>   * Episode 3’s timeline is slightly trickier, though—the semester exams usually take place at the end of a semester in a western school environment, but in Episode 3 it isn’t very clear exactly WHEN this happens.
>   * Jade mentions Riddle and the player character chasing him and Floyd around “the other day” (in Episode 3-8) though this could mean a lot of different things. 
>   * Also, it’s not completely clear the length of time before the end of Episode 3 and the beginning of Episode 4 (which happens at the beginning of Winter Holiday according to 4-1 and 4-2).
>   * We know that Episode 5 begins right after the end of Winter Holiday, which is AFTER the new year, since it is mentioned that people within the Twisted Wonderland ring the new year in at home with their family and loved ones. 
>   * In Episode 5-2 Crowley mentions there is less than 2 months left before the days of the cultural festival. This is kind of confusing since it can mean anywhere from ‘a little over one month’ to ‘just about two months’. It doesn’t make sense if it’s the latter because Crewel has mentioned in 5-1 that the festival is halfway through (or a little later than halfway through) February. Two months before would put it in December… 
> 

> 
> Given these facts, I’m going to be taking a few liberties with the dates of the semester exams as follows.
> 
>   1. Episode 1 takes place at around the third week of September. (Originally, it takes place during the first week.)
>   2. Episode 2 takes place throughout October, finishing around the end of the month.
>   3. Episode 3’s semester exams will take place at the very beginning of December, and will last a week (since it’s mentioned they take multiple days in Episode 3).
>   4. Episode 3 itself takes place during the second week of December.
>   5. Winter Holiday begins almost exactly halfway through December (guessing around the 15th or something). It lasts through the New Year and into the first (couple of?) weeks of January.
>   6. The joint cultural festival (including VDC) takes place towards the end of February (past midpoint). It should last 2 days. The training camp in Ramshackle begins exactly four weeks before that, starting towards the end of January.
> 

> 
> This means we are going to have a few chapters to go before Episode 3 starts since I don’t like doing time-skips. I apologize to those who were expecting Episode 3 to start right away! But don’t worry—I promise many interesting things are going to happen before then (…I hope?) with Heartslabyul, Savanaclaw and Octavinelle!
> 
> —

—

Poorly suppressed shouting pulled Yuu out of an extraordinarily comfortable sleep. Her body was throbbing with the aftermath of the Overblot fight, but compared to the last time she was awake, it was muted, easily ignored.

Further easing her pain were the fluffy blankets and bed cushioning her sore back—despite the plethora of spellwork she’d performed on Ramshackle’s bed to enlarge and fix it, the mattress was still old and creaky. Ace had complained endlessly about it the first night he’d stayed over.

This bed she was resting on couldn’t measure up to the one in Leona’s room, but it smelt similar enough, outmatched Ramshackle’s bed, and above all, it was _warm_.

Even in her two-week stay at Savanaclaw, where she’d slept lots and eaten lots, Yuu had not had such a wonderful rest. Someone had a large hand on her hair, the contact an incredible assurance. Her human desire to wallow in the warmth made her shut her eyes more tightly and burrow deeper under the sheets towards the sandalwood-and-sun scent she was beginning to grow used to.

“—is an infirmary, you know,” the sweet notes of Ruggie’s hushed voice reached her ears as Yuu drifted back and forth between the boundary of sleep. “We’re injured here and it’s seven in the morning. Keep it down, won’t you?”

“Ruggie Bucchi,” Riddle’s sharp voice cut through the end of his sentence, “You are under suspicion.”

“Suspicion?” Ruggie sounded playfully affronted. “Again? First you come hounding me to my classroom and now all the way in the infirmary? You guys were the ones that put me in here, you know.”

Riddle was unmoved. “Save the small talk,” he snapped. “I know exactly what kind of personality you’re hiding under that smile. Where is he?”

“Where’s who?” Ruggie repeated dumbly, sounding genuinely confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Yuu! I’m talking about Yuu.” Riddle snapped, voice rising again before he coughed to bring it back down. “…The Directing Student. I heard he was carried in here yesterday afternoon, but why is it that only you and Leona remain in the infirmary? Surely he was not released this early.”

“Oh yeah,” Ruggie muttered.

“Well?” Riddle demanded.

There was a long creak that coincided with his unhappy voice, pulling the conversation away.

“Oi, Deuce, hurry up and…Whoa!” Ace’s surprised yelp was comically loud in the hushed room. “Don’t stand in the doorway! Who the he— _geh_! Dorm Head!”

“Ace, silence in the infirmary,” Riddle ordered as if he hadn’t just been shouting.

“Ahem, ’scuse me.” There was some shuffling. “Dorm Head, you’re here to see Yuu too? You sure like him a lot, huh?”

“I’m not here to see him, I’m here to have a _talking_ -to,” Riddle said lowly, voice tense. “…Deuce, stop sleeping standing up and fix your tie.”

“…ning,” Deuce’s groggy voice mumbled before there was some more shuffling.

“You know how hard it was to wake this guy up this morning?” Ace complained. “At least with Grim, you can just put him under your arm and carry him, but Deuce is heavy as hell. We stayed up _way_ too late cleaning.”

“Language.”

“Sorry.”

“Anyway, that’s not important,” Riddle sighed. “I checked all of the hospital beds just now, but Yuu was nowhere to be found. Are you sure the Headmaster brought him here last night?”

“…That’s what he told us.” The humour drained from Ace’s voice. “And Yuu looked pretty battered, so I doubt he managed to wander off by himself. Should we look for him?”

“What? Yuu’s missing?” Deuce’s voice snapped into clarity. “Which bastard do I have to grind into the dirt? I’ll fu—”

“Oi, Deuce, Dorm Head’s gonna kill _you_ ,” Ace hissed. “Or shove a bar of soap in your mouth.”

Yuu was content to let the voices of her friends pass through her ears, still not quite awake. However, the comparatively sensitive hearing Leona possessed did not afford him the same luxury. There was some shuffling beside her before the warmth shifted with a squeak. “…Who the hell is making such a racket in the morning?”

Leona’s low, threatening rasp was enough to bring silence back into the infirmary. Ruggie, who had kept silent up until now, greeted him and explained that the Heartslabyul students had come to visit Yuu.

“But seems like sh…he’s not around,” the hyena’s smile could be heard in his voice. “You know where he could be, Leona-san?”

The covers over her head were drawn up higher. “No clue.” Leona’s yawn could not mask his smirk.

“What’s with that unpleasant smile?” Riddle’s voice hardened. “I see you have yet to learn from your mistakes, Leona. If you have a hand in—”

“Hey, hey, rich boy,” Leona’s voice dragged long with the roughness of sleep still hanging on to it. “I was completely out until just now, thanks to you lot. When would I have any time to kidnap the person who saved my life? It seems you have quite an opinion of me. _Naa_?”

“In the first place, we’re injured too,” Ruggie said matter-of-factly. “Where would we kidnap Yuu-kun? You sure he didn’t just go back to his dorm?”

“That’s impossible.” Trey had not made a sound when he entered. His voice was even when he continued, “I just fetched Grim here from Ramshackle and the Transfer was nowhere to be seen.”

“ _Funaa_.” Grim’s voice was rather squashed. “This Glasses is scary.”

“Is there no lock on the door?” Ruggie sounded exasperated. “Anyone can just go in and out of Ramshackle without warning? Hey Leona-san, we should fix that.”

Leona grunted.

“Grim,” Trey said pleasantly. “You’ve got a good nose, right? Can you smell your own…henchman anywhere around here?”

“Nice thinking, Trey-senpai,” Ace grinned.

“Smell?” Grim repeated. “But Yuu’s in here.”

“He _isn’t_ ,” Riddle said slowly, as if fighting for patience. “That’s why we are looking for him.”

“Yeah he is. Oi! Henchman!” Grim shouted.

The voice penetrated her half-conscious brain with remarkable alacrity. Yuu flinched in surprise, opening her eyes to a covering of white blanket.

“Keep your voice down!” Ruggie snapped. Leona made a noise of discontent.

“Henchman!” Grim ignored him, his voice rising even further. “Yuu! You sure have some guts disappearing on me for two weeks. Do you know how many cans of tuna you owe me?”

Right. In all the confusion last night, Yuu had forgotten—Grim, her partner, had not slept next to her in the infirmary, and she hadn’t seen her friends since the Overblot.

Grim. Her partner—her charge.

Yuu yanked herself upright, her nest of blankets falling from her head as she cast her glance around frantically. “Grim? Where are…Grim! There you are.”

Grim, who was dangling by the scruff of his neck from an emotionless Trey’s hand, let out a noise of terror and froze. “Fu… _funaa!_ ”

“I know you’re angry that I got myself into this mess,” Yuu asked in a slurred hurry, still half-buried with sleep’s sandy covering. “Were you able to take care of yourself while I wasn’t—”

“What have I said about the predator!? Why the hell are you _sleeping next to him!_ ” He cut her off, looking panicked.

“What predator?” Disoriented, Yuu frowned confusedly at the gathered white faces all turned in her direction. “Why is everyone staring at me like that?”

Deuce whipped his head back and forth between her and Leona, unable to produce a sound. Ace was gaping, too—the two of them wore matching expressions in a rare moment of solidarity. Riddle, who was decked out in his Heartslabyul dorm wear, had his large grey eyes wide open, mouth trembling finely; Trey blinked without visible emotion as Grim flailed in his grip.

The strange silence that had fallen over the infirmary was broken by Ruggie, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed to her left. He released his signature _shi-shi-shi_ laugh, drawing her attention, and waved good morning. “Finally up, sleepyhead? How’re you feeling?”

“A lot better.” Yuu yawned the persistent heaviness from her eyes and flexed her bound fingers. “Did you change my bandages? They feel different.”

“You slept right through it.” On her left, Leona caught her yawn and amplified it, absently straightening her hopelessly messy hair. “Looks like the posh fellows from Heartslabyul are looking for you, herbivore. Can you move?”

“More or less.” Yuu obediently turned her head for easy access. Her hair was always a nightmare to deal with in the mornings.

“Wait, wait _wait_ ,” Ace stomped over, ignoring Deuce, who was opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish, and Grim, who looked like his soul was leaving his body. “What the hell is going on here?”

“Hey Ace.” Yuu grinned at him, his sorely missed presence a ray of light in her vision. “Ruggie-senpai told me you guys really overdid it on the field yesterday. Wish I could’ve seen it.”

“That’s right, we crushed them,” Ace nodded with a wicked smirk. “—That’s not it, you moron! You can’t just sleep everywhere! And for all the people to bug out with your sense of distance, why is it _him_?”

“What?”

Leona bared his teeth at Ace as the latter pointed rudely at him, hands full of her hair as he pulled it back. “Watch your words, runt.”

“Leona-senpai’s a good person,” Yuu explained. “Ow, too tight! Okay, not a good person.”

“…Yuu…” Deuce said weakly, looking ill. “…what _happened_ these past two weeks?”

“What happened, huh…” Ruggie tapped his chin playfully. “Well, Yuu-kun went through Savanaclaw’s initiation and passed with flying colours. So I guess he’s an honorary Savanaclaw dorm member now.”

“That’s right,” Leona twisted her hair expertly into a knot at her nape and tied it back. “Maybe we should transfer him over.”

_Snap._

Later on, everyone present would swear they heard it, despite the impossibility of the sound being audible. The phantom noise brought a second of silence back to the infirmary where everyone turned to look at Riddle, its source, whose head was tilted down so his face was hidden by a film of scarlet hair. The Dorm Head shook minutely, red darkening his ears and neck.

Trey blinked. “Riddle—”

“Yuu,” Riddle seethed quietly, “You are coming with me. _Now_!”

—

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN | A Misfortunate Person.**

—

An hour later saw Yuu sitting on the carpet in Riddle’s room. She was still dressed in her hospital-issued set of pale nightwear and wrapped in only swaths of bandages against the autumn chill, but Yuu huddled down against the scarlet floor and did not produce a peep.

Riddle rested regally on an overstuffed vermilion armchair, one leg swung over the other. Cape swept behind him and crown gleaming in his hair, he cut an impressive picture belying his comparative smaller size. The sharp high-heeled boot pointed threateningly in her direction was plenty warning for her to stay still. Riddle hailed from an upper-class family in this world full of nobility and monarchies, and even without being royalty, his dignity was palpable in his bearing.

More importantly, Yuu wasn’t sure she’d seen him this angry since his Overblot. Those grey eyes were trained mercilessly against her sorry figure and a vein throbbed in his temple with a persistent tic.

The Cards—Ace, Deuce, Trey, Cater, and on Trey’s shoulder Grim—stood behind Riddle, all dressed in full dorm attire in various slouching or standing postures. None of them were smiling. From her vantage point on the floor, the five humans and one Monster cut impressively menacing figures as they looked down at her. Yuu was reminded that despite being a bunch of teenagers, these people were some of the most talented magicians in Twisted Wonderland. Young and unpolished, maybe, but still powerful, diabolical, and pissed as hell.

Yuu didn’t dare to look around at her surroundings. She kept her eyes down.

Back in the infirmary, Riddle’s audible _snap_ had caused Ruggie to tense cautiously. Instead of pulling out his Pen, though, Heartslabyul’s Dorm Head barked out “Trey” tersely. In an astonishingly natural movement, Trey set Grim on Ace’s shoulder as he stepped forwards obediently and scooped Yuu off Leona’s bed. It was done so quickly that Yuu, whose mind was still dull from pain and sleep, didn’t quite register it.

“Wait a second,” Ruggie spluttered, lunging off his bedside one step.

Ace snickered. “We’ll be taking our Directing Student back,” he sang.

“Leona-san…”

But the lion Therianthrope shook his head and covered a second yawn. “Let ‘em go, Ruggie. We’ve got things to discuss anyway.”

“I guess,” Ruggie said doubtfully. He regarded Riddle and Trey with a considering glint in his grey eyes. “You Heartslabyul types are pretty off your rockers, aren’t you?”

“Please,” Riddle sniffed, turning on his heel, “as if we could measure up to your Savanaclaw. We’re leaving.”

Yuu blinked, finally registering she was heading out the door. “…Trey-senpai? I’m still a…”

Trey smiled down at her. “Yes, transfer?”

For some reason, that friendly smile sent shivers down her spine. Yuu shut up.

Across from her now, he let the same expression erase the blankness from his gaze as Trey leaned casually against the back of Riddle’s chair. A good-natured, guileless upwards pull of the mouth directed at her. Yet Ace, who stood on his other side, kept a wide berth between them and was sending her _you really did it now_ looks.

On Trey’s other side, Cater stuck his phone in his pocket and broke the heavy silence as Yuu sweated and looked anywhere but at the vice Dorm Head. “Yuu-chan,” he said cheerfully, “got anything to say for yourself?”

Yuu stared up at him wide-eyed.

Deuce shifted a little, brows drawing together. “Senpai-gata, can we at least get him a…”

“This is a _trial_ , Deuce,” Riddle said without turning. Deuce went silent at once. “Don’t let his looks sway you. We are not moving from this spot until it concludes.”

“A _trial_?!” Yuu spluttered. “Why are we doing a trial! And I’m the defendant?”

“Ah~ that’s right,” Cater strolled forwards and pulled up a chair closer to her, straddling it backwards. “Yuu-chan, you don’t know the rules! Let Cay-kun explain, then. A trial has to be conducted for any violation of the really important rules here at Heartslabyul.”

“And you broke one of the biggest,” Ace winced, “ _always keep your promises_. Gotta say, Yuu, not a smart move.”

“When did I break a rule?” Yuu protested. “And wait a second. I’m not even a Heartslabyul student!”

“Not yet,” Deuce nodded, crossing his arms with a stern frown. “It’s not the only rule you broke, though. Staying outside your dorm after dark, using magic in personal fighting without permission, and failing to keep direction over Grim for weeks…”

“Ugh.” Yuu emitted guiltily, glancing up at Grim on Trey’s shoulder. “Um, I’m sorry, Grim.”

“Hmph,” Grim glared down at her before he leapt deftly over onto Riddle’s chair and then her lap. “You owe me. We looked all over the school for you, henchman.”

“Okay. I won’t leave you alone next time.” Yuu clutched him to her neck.

“Those infractions can be waived,” Riddle said carelessly to her surprise. “You were, after all, a victim of kidnapping. The uneducated mutts from Savanaclaw, especially that Leona, will be held accountable for what they did to you.”

“Yeah, don’t beat yourself up over that,” Cater said cheerfully. “Jack-kun told us you went through some nasty stuff. And you nearly broke your ankle, too, right? Kalim-kun was all depressed!”

Cater’s information gathering skills had ceased to surprise Yuu by now. “It wasn’t that bad,” she tried.

“What is unforgiveable,” Riddle cut across them sternly, “is your neglect of your own health and safety. In addition to that, you broke your promise made with the vice Dorm Head of Heartslabyul. More than enough grounds for a trial—though because today is the end of a long weekend, I did not call the rest of the dorm to stand witness. You can thank me later.”

“Promise with Trey-senpai?” Yuu repeated slowly.

“I thought so,” Trey sighed with a shake of his head. “You don’t remember what we talked about while I was still bedridden, transfer?”

“Bedridden…”

“ _I want you to promise me you don’t get in over your head_ ,” Trey recited for her. His smile widened. “ _We don’t want to see you hurt_. How about now?”

Yuu swallowed hard, unable to tear her gaze away from him. It was a different kind of prickling at her neck—not the visibly inhuman nature of the Mermen, not the overtly clean violence of the Therianthropes. Something softer, and all the more dangerous for it.

“I’m disappointed you didn’t keep it in mind,” he said lightly.

Somehow, she had managed to anger Trey, too.

The memory came rushing back now, of Yuu at his bedside while he patted her hair and made her promise not to get herself wrapped up in the chain of accidents caused by Ruggie’s Unique Magic. Trey met her eyes with his ochre gaze whose emotion she could not read and Yuu gulped.

“Cater,” Riddle commanded, breaking the stare-down. “The terms.”

“You got it, Riddle-kun,” Cater said easily, still relaxed across the spare chair. “Yuu-chan is being brought before the court—”

“Court?” Grim squinted doubtfully at the five gathered students.

“—today on several counts of misbehaviour. One, of the failure to keep his word between confidants, namely Trey-kun over here.”

Yuu swung over to face Cater, struggling to formulate a sentence. “Wait—”

“One, of the failure to properly care for his own person,” Cater went on merrily. “One, the failure to communicate with Riddle-kun beforehand about any of these matters.”

“Wait!” she protested. “Even if I did something wrong, why is a trial necessary?”

“What are you talking about?” Deuce wrinkled his brow. “Trials are always necessary for when a student breaks the rules.”

“Maybe from Heartslabyul. I’m part of Ramshackle Dorm, remember?” Not that Ramshackle was an official dormitory.

“Just give it up while you’re ahead,” Ace told her wearily.

“Indeed,” Riddle leaned forwards, narrowing his glare as he met her eyes, “you are not yet considered a member of any dormitory. Be it Heartslabyul or Savanaclaw.”

“Savanaclaw?” Cater repeated curiously, having stumbled out of his room in pyjamas to greet her a little while prior. He’d missed the exchange in the hospital that morning in favour of some extra sleep, once again proving himself the smartest person in the room.

“However. If the alternative is to watch Leona…-senpai kidnap you from _right under my nose_ ,” Riddle seethed, “I will have you transferred in dead or alive.”

“Dead or alive!?” Yuu yelped.

“Kidnap?!” Cater echoed, eyes lighting up.

“I’ll tell you later,” Trey said pleasantly. Cater whistled lowly and fell silent.

“Um, you know he wasn’t serious,” Yuu hurried to correct. “Plus, Leona-senpai wouldn’t waste all that effort doing something so pointless. So if you’re angry about that—”

“It seems like you still don’t understand, Yuu.” Riddle reached forwards with one glove and caught her chin, tugging her forwards so she was nearly nose-to-nose with him. The red-stained rose pinned to his cape looked as if it were dripping with blood as the Dorm Head’s mouth curved up in a beautiful smile that did not reach his eyes. “Back in September, you promised me your allegiance, did you not?”

A month ago in the infirmary, the bedridden Riddle had smiled at her much more gently and asked an expectant question, already anticipating a positive answer. “ _Yuu. If I end up on the wrong path again, will you become angry for me again?_ ”

“I don’t see how that has anything to do with this…” Yuu started.

“It means,” Riddle tilted her chin to the left and right, fingers too firm to allow struggling. He was still smiling arrogantly, but his grey eyes were gravely serious when he continued, “you are my responsibility.”

“Rosehearts-senpai,” Yuu managed, eyes widening. She hadn’t expected him to be this…

“And soon enough, you’ll be under my direction,” he continued. “Don’t look so surprised, Yuu. It’s only natural for me to take care of those under my control. Let alone an underclassman who has been at a disadvantage from the second he stepped into this world. Am I wrong?”

Ace and Deuce snapped out smartly, “No, Dorm Head!” in a practiced synchronicity.

“But,” the glove tightened against her skin as Riddle lost his smile, “to have one of mine injured in such an unsightly manner is unforgiveable. I’ve received reports from Cater about the two weeks you spent trapped in that barbarous Savanaclaw.”

“I’m pretty much recovered,” Yuu tried weakly. “These bandages are just from yesterday’s…”

“I can understand logically that you could not have prevented your injuries,” Riddle overrode her, “but all the same I cannot get over the fact that you allowed yourself to be hurt—even if it was a _single hair atop your head_.”

The end of his sentence spiked with emotion. Trapped by his glare, Yuu gulped; from her right, Cater hissed in sympathy and muttered something about not seeing Riddle this angry since the Overblot.

“Dorm Head’s frickin’ insane,” Ace whispered.

“Hey, stop that,” Trey nudged him.

“This casual disregard of yourself needs to stop,” Riddle said softly, the pressure of his fingers increasing on her chin until it hurt. “You do not belong only to yourself any longer. Do you understand why I am angry? Yuu.”

“Yes Dorm Head,” Yuu squeaked.

“And you understand why the trial will continue?”

She didn’t. Still, Yuu cared more about Riddle’s mood, his opinion far more than she cared about due process or whatever it was in this world. If he wanted to run a trial, even if it were to punish her, she didn’t mind so much if he felt better for it. “Okay.”

“Now. Before we hand down the verdict from these three charges, the defence is allowed to give their testimony,” Riddle released her chin and leaned back, drumming his fingers against the arm of his chair. “The five of us have discussed this, and we have come to the conclusion that we do not know enough about you.”

“About me?”

“That’s right,” Deuce spoke up, uncrossing his arms. His teal eyes were narrowed in concern. “Obviously, we know that you come from a different world—though I don’t really get all that stuff.”

“Even _I_ don’t get that stuff,” Ace cut in, “no wonder _you’re_ confused. But Yuu, you don’t talk about yourself. Sure, we know that you can use some crazy magic, but we don’t know your life story.”

“Why on earth would you want to know my life story?” Yuu squinted at them.

“So I can make fun of you for it?” he retorted with a grin.

“I have a feeling that Yuu-chan is stuffed full of interesting info,” Cater shot her a wink, “and we’re all friends here, right? Isn’t it normal for friends to know about each other?”

Was that how it was? Yuu wasn’t sure, but Cater seemed far more of an expert than she.

“The reason we want to hear about you—not your society, not your magic, _you_ ,” Trey began mildly.

“Is that a pun?” Yuu and Grim echoed simultaneously.

Riddle pulled out his Pen, vein throbbing in his temple.

“Sorry.”

“ _Funaa!_ I said nothing!” Grim dug his head into her shoulder in an attempt to hide.

Trey cleared his throat, ignoring them all. “…Is because we think it may show us the reason between your offences and rather concerning self-outlook.”

“Trey thinks that the reason you’re like this can be found in your past,” Riddle mentioned, “and I find that assumption reasonable.”

He would make a good psychologist, Yuu thought, and opened her mouth.

Trey caught the movement and turned his smile on her. “I’m sure you’ll say something like ‘my life isn’t interesting’ and ‘I’m normal’ or something similar, but we don’t want to hear that. Got it?”

He was still angry. Yuu nodded frantically and snapped her jaw shut again.

“Very well,” Riddle nodded once in satisfaction. “The defence will now plead its case. Tell me, Yuu. You know how I grew up—now I would like to know how you were raised.”

—

Yuu had been born to her father and mother fifteen years ago on a misty August afternoon. County Durham, England did not get overly hot in the summers, and the smaller city she lived in sat by the sea in the district of Hartlepool, further lowering its average temperature. The mild weather year-round and misty ambience was well-suited for her own preferences, even though Yuu’s mother was a muggle from Japan, whose summers and winters were a good deal more volatile.

Her father was a mysterious character that, in retrospect, embodied the paragon of wizard eccentricity. Yet Yuu was not aware of his magical origin until after she had arrived at Hogwarts all by herself four years ago. Removed from the mundane world and rather distant, he had allowed her mother to keep her maiden name at marriage and seemed altogether uninterested in his new-born daughter’s existence.

On the other hand, Yuu’s mother had not wanted a child. Neither was she pleased that Yuu had been born several days late. A successful and devoted careerwoman, her mother gave birth to her out of social responsibility, pressed her into the arms of a nurse-wife, and returned to work within a week of the hospital visit despite her one years’ worth of maternity leave still remaining. Yuu’s nurse-wife did her duties perfunctorily, having two other babies she had been tasked with the care of. It wasn’t until her second birthday that she saw either of her parents again.

As a child, Yuu was looked at with an uneasiness bordering on disgust by those in the neighbourhood. Perhaps it was because she rarely cried, rarely displayed the emotional instability characteristic of an infant. But Yuu had learnt early on how useless it was to cry when no one responded, and so she stopped quickly. Her first lesson, pounded into her mind far before she learned how to crawl or speak, was simple: no one was going to help her in this world.

She was on her own.

Ace, who had given up standing to sprawl on the carpet by her left, cut in here. “What the hell is that!?” he burst out angrily.

“What’s what?” Yuu asked confusedly.

“Everything! Your situation, for one, but the way you react to it is like…”

“Is like?” Yuu frowned. “What about my situation? There are lots of kids who get abandoned at birth, so statistically I’m pretty lucky I didn’t get shoved into a basket and sent down the Nile.”

“The what?” Deuce squinted.

“Ace,” Riddle massaged his brow. “Let him finish before you say anything.”

It was during this hazy period before her memories formed and stayed that Yuu was made aware of how lacking she was in the emotions department. All of these events were told to her later by the nurse-wife during her trips outside in the neighbourhood—the lady enjoyed talking and complaining, despite her clear dislike of Yuu, and the city they lived in was small enough for daily conversation to be a given between neighbours.

When the other babies under the care of her nurse-wife laughed at something, Yuu stared blankly. When they sobbed during a thunderstorm and demanded attention, Yuu was busy trying to figure out how to climb down the bars of her small crib. Food tasted bland, whether it was formula milk or the watery oatmeal mash made for those her age. Compared to the lively, active, struggling forms who spent their days close to her, Yuu was _creepy._

Sure, she avoided pain and discomfort as sharply as the next baby, but all the same it was evident she was missing something important.

Which was probably why the nurse-wife returned her to her parents just before her second birthday, citing her as a troublesome child who caused problems for her other clients. Yuu had never interacted with the other children, nor with her caretaker, but she did not protest when pushed into the embrace of her mother for the first time and out of the nurse-wife’s grip. She dimly remembered this—perhaps it was a built-in mechanism for a child to value their encounters with their parents.

Yuu’s mother’s embrace was warm. But when she looked up, the eyes were cold and empty.

She was put in the house after that. It was too much trouble to find another nurse-wife to take care of her, and the cost of raising a child in a day-care was disagreeable to her mother. Yuu’s father wasn’t around to contest or agree with the decision. But Yuu was resourceful, and her neighbourhood was within walking distance to the library, the local schoolhouse for primary students, the park.

“So I figured it out for myself,” she shrugged. “Not really much to tell. I told you I’m not very interesting.”

Deuce had come to sit by her other side cross-legged. He held up a palm weakly. “Yuu, you’ve got a bad habit of cutting out the important parts,” he said. “Elaborate a little, will you?”

“Deuce knows a word as long as _elaborate?_ ” Ace gasped.

Deuce curled the hand into a fist, pupils shrinking. “Wanna go? _Aah_?”

“Silence,” Riddle commanded.

Cater scooted his chair forwards as Ace and Deuce glared at each other over her head. “Yuu-chan,” he said, orange brows drawn together in a troubled smile, “you talk like you’re making a newspaper article or something.”

“I do?” Yuu blinked curiously. “I’m just repeating what other people told me. I don’t remember much of it.”

Trey sighed and sat on the foot of Riddle’s bed, crossing his legs. “I guess we can’t blame you for cutting out things you don’t know are important. Can you elaborate on what happened after you developed long-term memory?”

“You guys are really strange,” Yuu said bemusedly, looking around at the serious faces of the five people (plus Grim) all focused on her.

“Yuu,” Riddle commanded, “do as Trey says.”

Ravenclaws were known for their intelligence and thirst for knowledge—lesser known was their aptitude towards magic and ability involving Memory. Yuu herself was skilled enough in Charms, Memory or otherwise; her own mind was neatly organised and while nothing compared to Mister Olliviander, who had not forgotten a single wand he’d sold, she could more or less recall major events that had occurred from around her third birthday onwards.

In the year after she’d been left alone in her parent’s home, Yuu seemed to have managed to learn how to stave off her hunger and clean herself adequately. As unfriendly as the nurse-wife may have been, she did her job properly. The clothing, feeding, washing, and changing patterns she repeated every day must have been imprinted on Yuu’s brain…somehow. By the time she started retaining memory, she was already used to dragging chairs over to the refrigerator and fishing around for food she could break down into chewable portions. Through trial and error, Yuu learned how to feed herself properly.

Once the necessities were nailed down, Yuu’s driving motivations kept her busy in the empty home. The majority of the day was spent toddling around the house exploring, eating, and sleeping.

“Sleeping?” Cater repeated.

“Yep. I tend to get focused on whatever topic I’m interested in and before I know it I’m waking up on the stairs or kitchen counter or something,” Yuu said. “Even now, I still wind up falling asleep in strange places on weekends and days I don’t have to go to school.”

“ _Aaah_!” Ace emitted. “That’s where you got your habit of sleeping everywhere!”

Deuce passed a hand weakly over his eyes. “I almost had a heart attack this morning when you appeared from that Kingscholar-senpai’s bed,” he mumbled. “No wonder you always conked out randomly when we stayed over at Ramshackle. Don’t _scare_ me like that.”

“Leona-senpai can fall asleep in three seconds flat,” Yuu grinned, “so I’m comparatively normal, not narcoleptic or anything. But I think I’m someone who tends to require more sleep than the average person.”

The line between Riddle’s brows deepened. “…Sleeping at the drop of a hat…”

“Come to think of it, he was napping in the cafeteria a few weeks ago,” Trey mentioned thoughtfully. “…Huh. Transfer, be careful about where you let your guard down. Having a bad habit of falling asleep everywhere can be dangerous.”

Luckily, Yuu’s parents were not the kind who beat their children for misbehaviour, nor were they unreasonably controlling like Riddle’s mother. Sure, her own mother always wore the disapproving frown the very few times she looked directly at her daughter, and her father was almost never around—either he was locked up in his office or out of the house entirely—but hearing what Riddle’s home life had been like gave Yuu a new appreciation of her own situation.

Yuu’s free reign of the house allowed her to flourish. Three crucial steps in her learning were the discovery of the TV remote, the discovery of her father’s dusty, unused library room, and the discovery of the spare house key.

“Wait,” Cater blurted out, “don’t tell me.”

Trey was nodding along, looking unsurprised. He was the only calm one—the others all wore varying expressions of something complicated Yuu couldn’t read. “I see,” he said thoughtfully. “And Transfer, when did you say you started to crawl, walk and talk?”

“The nurse-wife said I crawled pretty early. Four months or something. Walking was early too, before my first birthday,” Yuu recalled with a squint. “…No one seemed to want to hear my voice, though, so I didn’t speak until after three.”

Cater narrowed his eyes shrewdly. “‘Didn’t’, huh?” he murmured.

“So you first were exposed to a variety of things via television,” Trey summarized, “used that knowledge to sneak in to your father’s study and learn how to read, and then used the house key to begin your exposure to the neighbourhood.”

“Damn,” whistled Ace, “no wonder you’re so small. With only yourself to fend for, it must’ve been tough.”

“Ugh…!” Deuce reached out and put a strong hand on her shoulder. “Yuu…! I had no idea!”

“What the heck is wrong with you guys?” Yuu squinted at them. “Why are you looking at me like that? There’s nothing wrong.”

“Nothing wrong…” Cater murmured.

Riddle sighed. “No wonder you said you were abandoned at birth,” he murmured.

“Well, it’s the truth, isn’t it?” Yuu shrugged. “Not like my parents wanted me. Anyway, I’m pretty lucky I managed to lie my way into getting a library card.”

It was through the public computers in the city library that Yuu managed to register herself for a primary school. She had fast fallen in love with the wide world, the power of the written word, and the discovery of learning. Everything was fresh and new to her mind, and she knew to seize every opportunity she had.

Yuu made sure to attend the free day camps for needy children in the area every year. Participate in activities with children in her neighbourhood. Pay attention in class. It wasn’t that she was desperate to survive, but through her limited experience, Yuu already knew that she was going to have to figure it all out for herself. Being socially involved would be advantageous in that regard.

Still—not everything went well for her. There was the struggle of communicating with her mother, who tried her best to pretend Yuu didn’t exist. It took years to successfully beg for clothing that fit her size and the power of a social worker plus months of accidental abandonment in Japan to obtain a room of her own. As Yuu outgrew her old apparel, she had to borrow old, abandoned clothes from her father’s closet and staple them (later on she learned to sew) to fit her slim figure. Her straight, jet-black hair was kept short with kitchen scissors and stuck up everywhere. Shoes were out of the question.

Her shabby appearance was more than enough to earn the ire of schoolhouse bullies, the derision of her teachers. The first time she was dragged behind the school building and punched, Yuu was blinded by the pain she had only known in words until now. Her relatively small size further exacerbated the ease with which they found fault with her.

“Compared to the bullies at my primary school…and well, the far more resourceful and mean-spirited people from Hogwarts, what I went through in Savanaclaw isn’t really anything to write home about,” Yuu explained with a shrug. “I guess this was what you wanted to know? About neglect of self-care or whatever? I wasn’t neglecting myself, and it’s not like I died.”

No one answered her.

Yuu blinked and looked around curiously. Riddle had steepled both hands under his chin and was looking straight at her, grey eyes dark as he listened. Ace and Deuce wore twin expressions of shock. Grim, whose head was still pressed against her shoulder, seemed to be trembling minutely.

“…Keep going, Yuu-chan,” Cater said eventually, a frown maturing his usually cheerful features.

All emotion had disappeared from Trey’s face as he nodded at her to continue.

So Yuu did, though she was confused at their puzzling reactions. Talking about herself was something she wasn’t used to doing. It was hard to gauge when was ‘too much’ and when was ‘not enough’. Deuce had asked her to elaborate more last time she finished, so she tried to be more detailed this time.

No one enjoyed pain on an instinctual level (that Yuu knew of). She herself was motivated enough to avoid the beatings to muster up the courage to ask her mother for suitable clothing. Perhaps she held some foolish expectation in her chest that it would provide an excuse to speak to the person from whom she had been birthed. At least, maybe, they could have a conversation.

Of course, it couldn’t be that easy.

Her first attempt to talk to her mother failed spectacularly. Yuu’s every word was met with silence. Her mother’s determined refusal to acknowledge her was complete to the point where she became convinced that she herself was mute—that it was her fault that her mother could not hear nor respond to her words. It took several experiments for her to determine that Yuu possessed the vocal cords and ability to produce sound. At the time, she had been laughably panicked. A child’s overreaction. But for her existence to be so completely denied by the person who had brought her into this world was a rather unexpected emotional shock.

Even though it had been clear, from the day she was born, that no one wanted her.

Once assured that she was, in fact, capable of speaking, Yuu approached the problem from a different angle. She wrote notes that were left unread on the counter. She created an email account, obtained her mother’s information and sent her request digitally. No response. Eventually, it was not her mother but her father who took the request into consideration. During a rare moment when he was passing through the living room, Yuu attached herself to his leg at the risk of being shaken off and asked him. It was the first time she spoke to her father. She was seven.

Yuu could remember clearly that slightly bemused, distant expression her father wore as he looked down at the shaking child hanging from his leg. _Ah_ , it seemed to read, _so you were still alive._ When she thought about it, her father must have been a Ravenclaw as well. A little detached from the world and completely absorbed in something that others didn’t even understand.

For the first time in her life, Yuu was looked upon with something apart from disdain, disappointment, frustration. Her father seemed to find her vaguely amusing in a way one might admire some rare species of insect. He gave her a credit card, its banking information, and told her to use it as she wished before she withered into a stick.

“I mistook that for affection, at first,” Yuu mused, forgetting she was talking to someone else. “I was so excited that someone had smiled in my direction.”

“Yuu,” Deuce murmured.

She didn’t hear him. “But I was wrong.” Yuu shrugged. “It was here I learned that the opposite of positivity isn’t negativity. The opposite of positivity is nothing.”

Yuu’s father might not have hit her, emotionally abused her, or like her mother, displayed her discomfort visually. But he didn’t care. About her—about her mother—about anyone. His world was already complete with what she would later on deduce to be magic. At the time, Yuu’s own uncontrolled magic did not manifest strongly enough for her to notice, and she didn’t know what he was up to.

It was rather disappointing. Yuu learned that chasing after her father for a word, maybe even a glance, was a futile endeavour. Her enthusiasm faded. Just as with her efforts to contact her mother, Yuu discovered that not every result of every experiment was positive. That effort could not overcome everything. That a human’s heart was perhaps the most complicated living thing in existence.

She remembered Leona’s own matching gaze as he met her eyes across the sandstorm blowing in Savanaclaw’s Magift field. He knew that feeling even better than she did. The despair of giving up. Unlike Leona, Yuu wasn’t rich with emotion, but even so she felt the echo of it and the pain of the rejection by his people, his society, his family.

Her family.

_You are not my daughter._

“…Yuu-chan?”

Cater broke her from her thoughts. Yuu realized she’d fallen silent for a few moments. “Sorry. Where was I?”

“Hey, Yuu,” Ace said abruptly. “If you don’t want to—”

“Ace,” Trey said mildly. “Let him finish.”

“But…”

“It’ll be good for him too,” the third year assured. “If I’m right, Transfer’s never been able to talk about himself in recent memory.”

Riddle continued to watch her with dark eyes. Briefly Yuu wondered if he was disappointed in her.

It would be nothing new.

She resumed, filing through her memories mechanically.

Even with her new monetary funds and clothing, Yuu had no friends. The few people who spoke with her seemed repulsed by her careful speech that did not fit the body of a young girl. She did well enough in class, but learned to fake test scores so an overly high mark would not attract undue attention. The target of the class bullies was without an exception her. Each year, Yuu would figure out better ways to avoid punches, to allow the glancing blows to graze her instead of hitting her full on.

“Why didn’t you get back at them?” Deuce growled.

“Why do I need to get back at them?” Yuu frowned. “…Is what I thought at the time.”

“They were punching you!”

“I’m small,” she said. “I’ve never been very strong. I used to look like a right mess all the time. It’s pretty natural that I’d be on the receiving end of some negative attention.”

“Please. You never take anything sitting down,” Ace snorted. “Even when I insulted you at our first meeting, you returned it right away, didn’t you?”

“I learned that at Hogwarts,” Yuu grinned over at him. “Not proud of it, but before I turned eleven, I was pretty passive.”

“Passive?” Cater repeated.

“I thought it was natural.” She shrugged. “I sat at the bottom of the food chain. My existence itself was looked upon as troublesome. Once I used to go so far as to say I deserved it for being born.”

“I’m glad you don’t think like that anymore,” Ace snorted, “if you were still like that you wouldn’t survive two days at NRC. People here smell weakness like a shark in water.”

“I wasn’t strong like Deuce or Rosehearts-senpai,” Yuu said ruefully, “so while I read everything in sight and learned as much as I could in school, I sort of just took it. Until my eleventh birthday.”

Yuu did not have a room until after she turned thirteen, so she usually slept on the carpet in the living room with a heap of discarded blankets. The couch was too soft, and Yuu’s Japanese mother favoured the Japanese futon over the western mattress anyway, so sleeping on a hard surface close to the ground felt more natural. The spot of floor under the coffee table made for an excellent bed.

Once or twice, she had been brought along to Japan with her mother during a business conference—and accidentally left on the streets for months, but that was another story—and Yuu found that her mother’s home country was exceedingly agreeable to her own sensibilities. It was here that Yuu’s language learning journey began. So far, she had only barely managed to achieve comfortable fluency in Japanese, which was most of the reason why she was able to communicate in this world. Back before Hogwarts, she had whiled away the time in the library devouring language CD after language CD.

Everything was blown into smithereens, of course, when a giant tawny owl unlatched the outside window and came sweeping into the living room at half past two A.M. on August 29th, four years ago.

—

Yuu spoke until her voice was hoarse and Trey left to get her a water bottle. A strange heavy silence had fallen over the group—the jury, as it were. This was the first time Yuu had divulged so much personal information to another living soul, and the aftermath made her fidget while she waited for the vice Dorm Head’s return.

It wasn’t as if she was reluctant to talk about herself, but Yuu’s Ravenclaw logic demanded reason for things, and there was no reason anyone would want to know about her, not when she was so boring—useless—unnecessary. Still, in effect, she was laying herself bare in front of these five people in front of her.

These five people whom she liked so much.

Her stomach made a funny leap as she carefully considered Heartslabyul’s students sitting quietly before her. This feeling was the same one she’d gotten when she’d used magic in front of them for the first time, back when Riddle had Overblotted—the same feeling that had cooled her anger after she’d stormed out of Savanaclaw and paced in Ramshackle’s lounge, thinking she’d destroyed whatever positive emotion existed between her and Leona.

Because Yuu knew already the despair of rejection by a Mother and Father she so desperately wanted. Disinterest. Disappointment. If those cold expressions came from Ace or Deuce, she might never be able to stand up again.

“You were all alone.”

To her surprise, it was Grim who spoke first. Yuu looked down at the ball of fur and realized she’d been squeezing him to her tightly. She loosened her hold sheepishly but couldn’t let go. Grim was her anchor—her partner—her charge. She had responsibility over him; he provided a role for her, a meaning for existence in Twisted Wonderland. And most importantly he was, unlike the other humans, simple. Honest. Easy to read.

Grim wasn’t about to betray her. So Yuu needed him.

He hadn’t made a sound through her entire story. But now, Grim came out of her loosened arms to stand on her pyjama legs crossed before her. His polar blue eyes glowed with the same eerie, inhuman light that blazed from his ears as he met her own eyes squarely.

“Yuu,” Grim smiled at her, narrowing those eyes, “you’re just like me.”

She stopped breathing.

Trey came back with a platter heaped with fruit, pound cake and milk. “We talked way past breakfast time,” he said cheerfully, “so we’re gonna have to settle with brunch today. Cater, can you bring in a table and some more chairs?”

Cater blinked out of that complicated expression and grinned brightly. “Sure thing, Trey-kun. The judge’s verdict can wait. I’m starving!”

Once they were all situated around the table Cater had summoned into the room—Riddle mumbling something about how bad manners it was to eat in his bedroom—and a good ways through their impromptu brunch, Yuu swallowed the last of her milk and tentatively peeked around her. “Why is everyone so quiet?”

Grim, mouth stained with strawberry, blinked confusedly. “Yeah, why do you all look like someone’s died or something?”

“Shut it, I’m trying to get over my friend’s heavy backstory, okay?” Ace snapped, devouring another slice of pound cake with gusto.

“More like he’s trying to stuff his mouth as full as he can,” Deuce snorted. “…Plus, it’s not like Yuu’s story is _that_ unusual around these parts.”

“But when the person in question doesn’t seem to realize that it’s not normal what he’s gone through,” Cater said thoughtfully, “the impact’s a little different, isn’t it?”

“Impact?” Yuu repeated. “Did my, uh, life story affect you somehow?”

“Hey, hey, Yuu-chan,” Cater grinned cheerfully at her, reaching forward to steal a blueberry. “You know what’s special about you?”

“Special,” Yuu wrinkled her nose at him. “I’m not _special_.”

“There it is.”

“Huh?”

“Most people—especially teenagers—find value in themselves.” Cater nudged Trey on his other side as he spoke. With practiced ease, the vice Dorm Head rolled his eyes and waved his Pen over Cater’s slice of pound cake.

“You should really get over your pickiness,” Trey chided him over the trail of sparkles, grinning good-naturedly.

“Not when you’re around to Doodle my food into what I like to eat,” Cater responded with a wink. “Anyway, Yuu-chan. People here at NRC—and to a lesser extent, everyone—are self-interested individuals. All babies are born selfish, right?”

“If you mean they’re programmed to seek survival and flourishing, then yeah, I guess,” Yuu returned bemusedly.

Cater swallowed a mouthful of his food with relish. “I’m not saying you’re _not_ selfish. But there’s, like, a chunk of that desire so common in people that’s just missing from you. At least, that’s the way I see it.”

“Cater always puts it so well,” Riddle nodded, pressing a handkerchief neatly to his mouth, “Yuu. It is not unusual for children to grow up neglected, despised, …controlled.”

“Riddle,” Trey murmured.

Yuu thought that perhaps Riddle’s own complicated experiences with his household gave them a certain sense of familiarity. She nodded solemnly.

“But your reaction,” Riddle continued, “your…disregard…as if such actions are not even within your line of vision is something different. It’s both admirable, the way you dismiss insult and injury so lightly, and…worrying.”

“Worrying,” Yuu repeated.

“Why?” Grim echoed her confusion sleepily, tossing a slice of orange into his juice-stained mouth.

“Why?” Trey sounded incredulous. “The entire reason why we’re having this meeting is because Transfer can’t seem to keep himself out of trouble.”

“Hey!” Yuu protested. “I’m not Ace or Deuce!”

“Hey!” Ace spluttered. “You say that like we’re troublemakers!”

Yuu gave them a singularly deadpan expression, matched by the upperclassmen. Ace didn’t have the decency to look embarrassed, but Deuce squirmed a little. “…We’re not as bad as Grim.”

“Grim’s not up for comparison,” Yuu rolled her eyes, watching the Monster tumble onto his back, belly bulging, beside her plate.

Trey shook his head. “The kind of trouble Ace and Deuce get into can usually be solved with a Beheading, or a five-hundred essay of reflection, or at worst a few punches.”

“But Yuu-chan. First you get thrown across dimensions into some world you have no knowledge of,” Cater ticked off, “nearly get expelled from the school before you’re even a student, get involved in Riddle-kun’s whole situation and nearly die, get wrapped up in the whole string of Magift injuries, and to top it all off, get kidnapped by Savanaclaw and nearly die a second time to a second Overblot.”

“Holy shit,” Ace commented blankly, “Thinking back, Yuu’s gotten into some pretty big trouble just these past two months.”

“I don’t think I had such a vivid school life even when I was in middle school,” Deuce commented, looking a little dazed.

“ _You_ ,” Trey scanned over the two first-years, “should recognize that half of those incidents come from yours and Grim’s irresponsible actions. Who broke the chandelier?”

“…Me,” Deuce averted his eyes.

“Who instigated Riddle past the point of return?”

“He was being a jerk!” Ace complained.

Riddle rolled his eyes but didn’t protest. It was a mark of his maturity that not a single shred of anger leaked into his expression—evidently, Riddle was also aware he had been a ‘jerk’.

“We know Yuu’s a little oblivious,” Deuce hurried to say. “The whole world-travelling thing aside, he’s the kind of guy that would believe what strangers tell him about the school and stand still when some bastard tries to punch him and pretend nothing’s wrong when cowards throw his textbooks into the well.”

Riddle snapped his head in Deuce’s direction. “They _what_?”

“That’s the whole reason why we separated him from the stakeout team!” Ace crossed his arms. “To distance him from the whole string of incidents. The Headmaster went to us and not Yuu for a reason. We figured that if we assigned him near the library or something he’d be able to miss the action without feeling left out.”

“Ace…” Yuu gaped at him.

“Ace,” Riddle snapped, “we agreed not to mention that.”

“Oops.”

“Ah ha ha.” Cater laughed. “It’s pretty unusual for NRC students to act on behalf of another person like that, Yuu-chan. But we’d already figured out after Riddle-kun’s whole incident that you’d sacrifice yourself without hesitation for what you thought was more important, so we figured it wouldn’t be a good idea to just bring you with us.”

“…Though it backfired,” sighed Trey, “since it gave Savanaclaw an opening to kidnap you. What was with that, anyway?”

“Since we’re friends, they thought they could use me against you,” Yuu explained dumbly. “That’s not important. Um…You guys did all that to prevent me from getting in trouble?”

“It was for your own good,” sniffed Riddle.

“Are you angry?” Cater wanted to know. His intelligent hazel eyes sparkled with the light filtering in from the window as he observed her. “That we snuck around behind your back.”

“Why would I be angry? You…” she swallowed with difficulty. “All of you put me in a position of importance.”

“What are you talking about?” Deuce said like it was obvious. “You’re our buddy. We didn’t _put_ you in a position of importance—you’re important without being put anywhere.”

“Deuce sucks at phrasing,” Ace rolled his eyes. “What, Yuu. You’re not happy we put in all that effort to try and keep you safe? I don’t usually do this, you know. Here’s where you’re supposed to say _thank you Ace-sama_.”

“Just…” Yuu shook her head and put up a palm. “Just give me a second. I’m just not used to…not used to people caring…not used to being treated this…”

“Yeah, that part’s the part I _don’t_ get,” Cater nodded, pulling out his phone as it rang with a notification. “Oh, an update. It’s one thing if you’ve got a difficult personality…like my sisters…but you’re like, stupidly good.”

“People in this school always find a way to diss being ‘good’,” Yuu said bemusedly. “And I’m not good. Not really.”

“Even putting aside the fact that you don’t actively seek your own benefit at the cost of others, the eagerness you have to act on our behalf is enough to label you as ‘good,’” Trey said dryly. “Riddle was practically a stranger to you when you broke him from his Overblot. Ace and Deuce got you into that incident the first day of school and you didn’t blame them once. And Savanaclaw…”

He paused and returned to the emotionless expression briefly.

“If you’re not used to being cared about, it’s pretty natural to seal yourself off from others,” Cater finished off the last of his food and leaned back, scrolling idly on his phone. “If I’d grown up the way you did, I wouldn’t volunteer to help _anyone_ on the verge of dying.”

“Cater’s a little on the extreme end,” laughed Trey.

“Not as extreme as you,” Cater muttered. “Still, Yuu-chan, you should seriously consider the reason why we hang out around you. Why we care about you. No one in this dorm—in this school—is stupid enough to grow fond of a useless kid who can’t use magic, right?”

“Diamond-senpai,” Deuce gaped.

“Right,” Yuu nodded without taking offence. “But you said you are. Because you think I helped out Rosehearts-senpai?”

“That’s one part of it,” Cater nodded. “The other part is all because of your charisma.”

“One of the reasons we’re holding this trial is because you’re not aware enough what you can do to other people and to yourself,” Trey continued for him, crossing his arms. “None of us are gonna let something like Savanaclaw’s incident happen to you again, Transfer. So we’re going to teach you to take care of yourself properly.”

—

Riddle’s sentence for Yuu’s ‘crimes’ was handed down without brooking any room for argument. Still reeling from the revelation that everyone cared enough about her to sabotage her movements for her sake, Yuu merely nodded dumbly when he demanded control over her person (and, by extension, Grim) for the next seven days.

“Since you obviously can’t take care of yourself,” he’d looked down his nose at her, “I’ll take the pains to beat it directly into you.”

“So that you recover properly,” Trey added mildly, “and do not start sticking your nose into more trouble.”

“’Cause you’re fun to observe,” Cater finished cheerfully. “And you’re always in the centre of the action!”

Regardless of the reason, Yuu was to be imprisoned in Heartslabyul for the next week until Sunday—though with Riddle’s personality, he made sure to mention she would be attending classes normally. This didn’t sound like much of a punishment to her, but both Ace and Deuce made bugged-out eyes behind Riddle’s back and told her with their gazes that their Dorm Head was unhinged.

Yuu knew Riddle was unhinged. She liked him a lot anyway. Even if he was controlling and arrogant, she thought that hanging out with him and the others sounded more like a reward than a sentence.

The rest of the day was spent with the five of them arguing over where Yuu would stay the night, foisting old Heartslabyul-branded clothing and pyjamas on her, and Riddle throwing a tantrum of epic proportions after he’d wrestled her version of Savanaclaw’s story out in its entirety. Cater had to hold him back from storming straight over to Leona in the hospital wing, brandishing his Pen.

Yuu tried to tell him that neither Leona nor Ruggie were so bad, but instead of assuring them, the ever-calm Trey loomed over her ominously and told her pleasantly that she should stop talking if she didn’t want to _really_ anger him.

No wonder animals were scared of this guy.

Bemused, still tired and aching, Yuu watched sleepily beside Cater’s smiley-face cushion as he dug through the crimson curved dresser in his four-man room for ‘MagiCam-worthy’ PJs. It took him a while before realizing that Yuu would be swimming in his clothes, making him clutch his orange hair in dismay.

Soon after they’d finally obtained unwanted sets of clothing from a passing first-year student who was closer to her height, she was introduced to what Ace called Trey’s ‘tooth fetish’ when the vice Dorm Head presented her with a full set of brushes—one for the teeth, one for the palate, one for the tongue, and a flosser with a handle—and instructed her to brush after every meal.

This guy was like the Heartslabyul version of Jade Leech, Yuu thought privately as she listened to him lecture about the right amount of toothpaste to put on her brush. Both of them were strangely passionate about their hobby, both of them excellent cooks (though in different areas), both of them preferred to stay in the background, and both of them were scary as hell. Like Azul’s resigned expression as he’d eaten a stuffed mushroom, Ace and Deuce had long since given up on their tooth-brushing rights and obediently lined up with her to clean their teeth with dead gazes.

On weekdays, several of the eight-hundred-and-ten rules Heartslabyul lived by demanded proper care of the animals living within the dormitory (the hedgehogs and flamingos) as well as a croquet tournament and afternoon tea party, but because it was a long weekend, they were spared. Yuu was then quickly snatched away by Ace and Deuce to hang out and watch horror movies as Grim napped on the former’s pillow.

It was a surreal experience, eating together with Ace and Deuce and Grim in the Heartslabyul kitchen that evening as the three of them raced to catch up on homework. The easy way she was accepted into the fold (though there was some heckling from the upperclassmen) was almost enough to make her to fall under the illusion she really was a Heartslabyul dorm student. And the fact that she wasn’t about to return to her creaky bed in Ramshackle made Yuu feel bubbly, like she’d downed a Butterbeer on an empty stomach.

Yuu’s notebook had been shredded into confetti by Leona during their fight, so she was firmly two weeks behind the material—but despite attending class normally, Ace was in the same boat. It was only a matter of course that they struck a deal to help catch each other up before class started tomorrow.

“He spends all his time playing basketball and video games,” Deuce told her disapprovingly as the two of them pored over his Magical Analysis textbook.

“Better than Deuce who spends hours groaning over his homework and still manages to get the questions wrong,” Ace shot back, scribbling on his worksheet with lightning speed.

“Ace, how did you finish problem three?” Yuu swallowed some of her soup and rubbed at her dry eyes. “The last part lost me.”

“What, the great Yuu needs my help?” Ace could never pass up a chance to tease her.

“You’re already on problem three!?” Deuce clutched his hair.

“I’ve been barely keeping up until now because alchemy is similar to Potions back home, but learning an entirely new world’s worth of magic classes is _hard_ , okay?” Yuu slumped against his shoulder tiredly.

“You said it,” Deuce pressed a thumb into his temple. “I’m not cut out for this shi…uh, stuff.”

Eventually, the Dorm Head noticed the lights were still on far after dinnertime and stomped inside to dismiss them to their rooms. Having won the argument about Yuu’s lodging (using his Dorm Head privileges like a tyrant), Riddle allowed her to borrow his luxurious washroom to shower. Then, for the first time, she experienced the feeling of sleeping under a scarlet four-poster bed. Ravenclaw’s were a deep blue, so Yuu felt as if she’d become a Gryffindor for a day.

“I’ve never had a sleepover,” Yuu confided to Riddle as she climbed under the fluffy red comforter. “So I might have a hard time falling asleep tonight.”

“It seems your charge doesn’t have the same compunctions,” Riddle nudged Grim off of his pillow and onto her magically flattened chest. “Now stop grinning foolishly and finish drying your hair, Yuu. I’m turning off the lamp.”

“Yes, Dorm Head,” Yuu sing-songed, towelling her mess of dark hair. It was really getting long.

It soon became evident that Riddle was by no means used to sleepovers, either. Having become Dorm Head a week into his first year, he’d been in a single bedroom for nearly the entire duration of his high school career; before that, one could only guess at how his sleeping habits had been controlled. Yuu, who could sleep pretty much anywhere (though since she’d arrived in this world, the quality of her sleep left something to be desired), was ready to conk out if not for his restless tossing and turning.

“Senpai,” she said sleepily, reaching for his hand, “’S’okay.”

“…My apologies,” Riddle sighed after a moment. “I suppose I have no right to scold you for being excited.”

“You know,” Yuu mumbled, “I was really…really happy when you came to visit me this morning.”

“That’s…” Riddle paused. “You make people worry.”

“Sorry.”

“I don’t need an apology. I want you to take care of yourself correctly.” His words slowed.

“You’re going to teach me?” Yuu was on the edge of dreamland.

“Who do you think I am?” she heard from far away. “…ccompanying you to classes…”

His clear voice faded into her dreams.

Riddle’s high-grade pillows were imbued with a gentle floral scent. Lavender and something else. It made for a natural night of sleep that eased into waking at dawn the next day without Grim nor Ghost needed for her alarm clock.

Yuu pushed herself upright half-awake as Grim yawned and jumped off her stomach. Pale light caught Riddle’s white dress shirt from the window as he pulled the sleeves on and threaded the buttons.

“Morning,” Yuu rubbed at her eyes.

“Mmmning,” Grim stumbled towards the washroom.

“Good morning,” Riddle offered her a smile lacking its usual sharpness. “Go get washed up and fix your hair. I’ve got some paperwork to fill out before breakfast, so head to the kitchen ahead of me.”

“Paperwork?” Yuu repeated sleepily. “Want help?”

“I’ll be fine. Hop to it, Yuu, or you’ll be late to class. Today is the day new timetables are handed out, so missing homeroom is out of the question. Understood?”

“Yes, Dorm Head.” Yuu mumbled out of habit and reluctantly left her warm burrow. Grim had come back from the washroom and crawled into the spot she vacated to nap a while longer, so she left him be. Neither of them were morning people.

The maze of staircases making up Heartslabyul’s hallways looked ominous in the weak light of autumn morning, and it was too early for students to be up yet. Having been woken by Leona (and Giraffe) at the crack of dawn several days in a row had acclimated her body clock, though, and even with the receding bruises and cuts aching dully across her body, Yuu felt alert. The moisturizing hand cream Cater had given her for her hands—still heavily injured and cracking from Leona’s _King’s Roar_ —helped a great deal with her discomfort. Her limbs were cool against new bandages.

Unfortunately, Yuu’s lack of directional stability came back to bite her; she stumbled around the staircases for a good ten minutes before finally making it into the Heartslabyul lounge. Book bag slung over her shoulder, she hunted for a spot by the lightening window and pulled out the new notebook Ace had pushed into her hands yesterday. Though they both worked well under pressure and had ironed out the more recent assignments she’d missed, Yuu was still missing a lot of the work she’d done in Savanaclaw due to her poor deceased notebook. Maybe she could jot down some notes from memory to spare herself a zero mark.

She pictured Trein’s severe glare, doubled by Lucius’, as he asked her where she’d been for two weeks. That man resembled McGonagall to a great deal in his unyielding manner, and because Yuu respected and liked the Headmistress, the thought of disappointing him was unpleasant. She wondered if she could figure out a way to get out of the bad graces she’d undoubtedly left herself in…

It was either lying or appealing to pity. She could also try to get Crowley on her side—even Trein could not override the Headmaster’s word. Could he?

Gaze wandering out the window, Yuu viewed the receding curls of Heartslabyul’s Rose Maze idly. Living here every day would undoubtedly be a luxury.

A blur of movement flashed white in her peripheral vision. Yuu blinked and craned her neck sideways just in time to see Jack Howl’s magnificent ears emerge with the rest of him onto the cobbled road leading down to the travel mirror. Just like the day of the Magift Tournament, he was dressed in NRC’s athletic uniform; in the pale dawn, he towered over the rosebushes, a solid block of dark cloth.

Jack had been of great help in Leona’s incident—plus, he had huge furry ears and a fluffy tail and his Unique Magic was to turn into a _freaking wolf_. Yuu put her notebook down and jogged down to the entrance hall.

October was on its last legs, and mornings were freezing. Yuu hissed as the chill hit her cheeks and blew through her uniform, but she didn’t bother paying attention to the weather as she trotted down and around the moat to reach Jack’s approaching figure.

He’d noticed her as soon as she’d opened the great set of doors, one ear pointed in her direction. Jack approached her with a burst of speed, amber eyes serious in the morning light as a bag dangled from his wrist. “Directing Student.”

“Jack! Morning,” Yuu greeted enthusiastically. “What brings you all the way here?”

“Jogging,” he grunted.

“All the way in Heartslabyul?” she squinted. Weren’t there rules against trespassing into other dorms? Or maybe that was just one of the strange rules Heartslabyul abided by.

“…You weren’t awake when I visited your hospital room,” Jack scratched his silver-grey hair, squinting somewhere beyond her head. “Should you be up this early? Ruggie-senpai told me that the Heartslabyul bunch carried you off.”

He’d visited her hospital room.

Jack must be the least ‘NRC’ student in this school, Yuu thought, shoving down her bourgeoning grin. “Don’t worry. I’m not as injured as I look, and I can alleviate small wounds with _a spell_ ,” she mouthed the last part.

“Right…” Jack lowered his thick brows at her. “Still. You look like a strong gust of wind would tip you over. Get outta the cold, kid, before you catch ill or something.”

So Yuu invited Jack into the Heartslabyul kitchen, passing Trey with a greeting. He was carrying breakfast tea out, buttered scones piled high on a plate. The fragrant smell was enough to set her stomach rumbling—but the growl that reached her ears came from the Savanaclaw first-year beside her. Jack refused to look in her direction when she craned her neck up to glance at him.

This guy!

Having received permission from Riddle to use the kitchen as she pleased, Yuu followed his directions to find this morning’s magically heated toast and condiments. Like Savanaclaw, people tended to eat in-dorm over the cafeteria, though for very different reasons.

Savanaclaw kids demolished food like it was nothing, so Leona kept the fridge stocked all the time—plus, the Magift players usually needed food faster than the Ghostly kitchen staff could prepare it. Ruggie had told her about how he’d had to stuff the fridge full (with Leona’s wallet at his disposal) weekly because the Dorm Head always demanded meat when the cafeteria had none.

Heartslabyul, on the other hand, was obliged to make sure their tea had the right amount of sugar in it and that they didn’t eat various foods on various days. It was just easier, Trey had explained, to have their own food prepped. Yuu thought privately that rich people sure had it nice. Either way, it was convenient enough to get Jack seated at one of the tables and share some breakfast with him.

“Here,” Jack said gruffly after they’d sated their hunger. He put the bag he was holding on the table. “Leona-senpai told me to hand it off to you if I saw you.”

“Leona-senpai did?” Yuu blinked. “Did I leave something back at Savanaclaw?”

“He said something about keeping it safe this time,” Jack passed on.

Yuu picked up the cloth bag and reached inside. “I don’t remember—”

She stopped talking abruptly as her old notebook fell in her lap. Whole.

Flipping through the pages revealed the contents just the way she’d left them—her notes, then the homework assignments, and then the scribbles in her own writing and Leona’s much fancier script. Yuu knew that _Papyrus Reparo_ was a standard spell in her world, but Crewel had said that reversing the attributes of objects was much harder with this world’s magic.

 _Think up of a better plan next time_ , she read on the first new page.

“Directing Student?” Jack prompted her.

“…That was a surprise attack,” Yuu breathed, putting the notebook away. “Thanks for bringing this over.”

“It’s fine. I wanted an explanation about the whole…” Jack hesitated and lowered his voice. “…Everyone said you didn’t have magic.”

Yuu sighed. “ _Muffliato_.”

“What?”

By now she was getting used to the explaining thing. Yuu poured them each a second cup of tea and gave the rundown of her landing in Twisted Wonderland out of wizarding Britain, of the laws that forbade minors’ use of magic, of the Statute of Secrecy.

Jack grasped the details quickly. His intelligence was a different colour than Ace’s quickness and he didn’t have the instinctive understanding of human motivation that Deuce seemed to possess—but he made up for both in diligence.

“I’d guessed as much,” he said finally as Yuu fell silent. “You’d always looked a little too confident for someone your size, all alone in enemy territory.”

“Is that what they call _animal instinct_?” Yuu quipped with a grin, surreptitiously dismissing her Muffling Charm. The noise of early-waking students was beginning to reach them in the kitchen.

Jack gave her an unimpressed stare. “I’ll give you points for standing up to Leona-senpai and challenging him on your own terms, but you’re still far weaker compared to him—hell, compared to me or Ruggie-senpai. Weren’t you afraid you’d end up failing? Savana students aren’t exactly friendly to outsiders.”

“To be honest, I was way too angry at Leona-senpai to be thinking that far ahead,” Yuu said sheepishly. “And people from your dorm are unexpectedly nice.”

“…You went through that hellish initiation and you call them _nice_?” Jack looked at her as if she were insane.

“I’m used to that stuff, and it wasn’t like I died,” Yuu shrugged, “Once we got past the whole trying to drown me or beat me to death thing, it’s not so bad.”

“This kid is _always_ saying stupid shit like that,” Ace complained sleepily, sliding in beside her. His momentum squeezed Yuu half off her chair as he reached forwards for one of the leftover slices of toast. “What’cha doin’ here so early, Jack? It’s too cold to be awake.”

“Ace.” Yuu blinked in mild surprise, having not noticed his approach. A few seconds later, Deuce entered the kitchen, stretching and looking a good deal more awake than his counterpart. Come to think of it, this guy was usually a morning person. The only time she’d seen him tired in the morning was right after he and Ace had been roped into coliseum clean-up after the Magift tournament; Deuce had never been good at staying up at night.

“Morning, Yuu, Jack,” he greeted with a grin. “…It feels weird to see you two here in the morning. Feels almost like we’re dorm-mates.”

“Deuce.” Jack jerked his head down in a nod, glancing between the three of them with an unreadable expression.

Yuu waved at Deuce. “You two know each other?”

“I mean, we didn’t really talk before the whole Magift incident,” Ace nudged her. Yuu passed him the strawberry jam. “But Deuce and Jack are apparently in the same school club.”

“Track and field?” she blinked. “I thought Jack was in the Magift team.”

“I considered it,” Jack shrugged, “but team play isn’t my forte. You saw before when we did the Savanaclaw matches, didn’t you?”

He _had_ refused to let go of the flying disc—rather, Yuu who was acting as the flying disc—until Ruggie stole her in his match. Yuu nodded in comprehension.

“I guess you’re what they call a _lone wolf_ ,” she quipped.

Jack stared at her.

Ace and Deuce groaned just as Riddle stepped into the kitchen with Grim dangling from his hand by the scruff of his neck. “Yuu,” he snapped in a bad temper, “do something about this cat of yours that keeps trying to hide under my pillow. He’s shedding fur everywhere.”

“Whoops,” Yuu winced. “Um, there’s a Charm for that, I’ll fix it later. C’mon, Grim, wake up, we gotta get our timetables today.”

“ _Funaa._ I’m not a cat.” Grim climbed up on her shoulder, curled around the back of her neck (had he gained weight?) and ignored the angry glare Heartslabyul’s Dorm Head was drilling into the top of his head.

“Jack, you coming with us?” Ace asked through a full mouth.

He shook his head. “I have to change and get my belongings. But if what the upperclassmen say is true, I’ll probably be seeing you around whether I like it or not.”

“ _Whether I like it or not_ ,” Ace mimicked in a low voice as they saw him off.

“You’re such a moron,” Deuce give him a deadpan stare.

“Huh? Wanna go?”

She wondered what Jack meant, but time always flew too quickly when the three of them hung out, so now was not the time to ask. Yuu fetched her bag and notebooks and approached the bickering duo by the entranceway.

Before they could leave, Trey and Cater approached them smilingly in their uniforms. “Morning, firsties!” Cater tucked his phone in his pocket, waving at them cheerfully.

“What the heck are you guys doing here?” Ace blurted out rudely.

“Senpai?” Deuce seemed similarly confused.

“Aww, come on,” Cater pouted, “going to school with our underclassmen once in a while can be refreshing, you know?”

“He’s up to something,” Ace muttered.

“Didja say something, Ace-chan?”

“Stop calling me that!”

“What are you all yelling about in the doorway?” Ever-present line between his brow, Riddle approached them, pulling on a shoe. “Yuu, your tie is all wrong again. Stay still.”

Going to school with all five Heartslabyul students she was friends with felt like a surreal experience even stranger than her ‘sleepover’ last night. Yuu was used to hanging between Ace and Deuce—couldn’t feel calm without them, but the weight of Trey’s and Cater’s presence slightly behind her was all new. Riddle spearheaded their group confidently so that altogether it felt as if she were surrounded.

“Trey-senpai,” she turned instinctively to the person she knew had the answers.

He didn’t need her to elaborate. “Let’s just say it’s for preventative measures,” Trey told her with his mild smile. “Now look ahead, Transfer, or you’ll trip.”

“That’s right!” Cater swung her back around to face the front. “Don’t worry about a thing, Yuu-chan!”

Yuu exchanged confused glances with Deuce. But walking in a bunch was good for fending off the cold, so she shrugged and let it go.

—

When Professor Crewel had entered the first-year’s morning classroom for homeroom and caught sight of her, Yuu felt her heart stop for a moment. The tic of a vein in his forehead and that slightly deranged look in his grey eyes woke Grim in an instant and chased her behind Deuce’s back.

Her struggling was futile. Crewel dragged her out of her seat bodily, leaving behind Grim whose fur was standing on end and the A-Deuce combo, who were both looking at her with pitying stares. Just because it didn’t involve them…

“Mutt,” he gritted out lowly in the corridor, “Explain your bandages.”

Yuu gulped but straightened her posture. Crewel was particular about the bearing of his ‘puppies,’ and slouching was usually met with a painful snap of his crop. “I sort of got into a scuffle…”

“Not that,” he waved a scarlet glove impatiently. “Who bandaged these? They used way too much cloth and I can’t smell any of the petroleum jelly that needs to be applied. Come visit the infirmary before Alchemy this afternoon so I can redo them, understood?”

“Redo them?” Yuu repeated dumbly.

“Who do you think bandaged you in the first place?” Crewel arched a brow, showing off his sparkling eyeshadow. “When Headmaster Crowley carried you into my office dangling from his arm, it’s not as if I had a choice.”

Yuu would never understand whether Crewel respected Crowley or not—his method of referring to the Headmaster wavered between ‘that bastard crow’ and ‘Headmaster’ depending on mood. More importantly, though, Crewel had been the one to take care of her while she’d lost consciousness. This meant that the secret of her gender had been kept safe.

“Thank you for your help, Professor,” Yuu lowered her head in gratitude.

“We will have more words this afternoon after class,” he promised ominously. But Yuu still thought Crewel, who took care of his kennel of students and rubbed her head with a grin when she got a potion right, was an excellent teacher. Far better than the uninterested and removed professors that had allowed her bullying to continue at Hogwarts.

With the advent of December’s term exams beginning to loom ominously in the distance, November’s timetables introduced joined classes across each year’s Class A, B, C, D, and E. The first month would mix classes within the same year for familiarization purposes, explained Trein, after which the first years would be paired with classes across the second and third-year groups post-term exams. Trein warned the boisterous Class A that it was by no means an excuse to leech off their upperclassmen and that the same work would be expected of everyone.

“As if we could,” Ace muttered. “The upperclassmen at this school are all fricking insane.”

“They’re more likely to bully _us_ into doing the work,” Deuce nodded.

“So basically, if you’re weak enough to get used, then that’s that. I suppose the professors aren’t going to punish them like they’d punish us,” Yuu said thoughtfully.

“The world is so unfair,” whined Ace. “No wonder that Leona-senpai Over _mmph_.”

“Hey!” Yuu slapped a hand over his mouth.

“What!” he pushed at her. “I’m pretty sure the whole school knows anyway.”

“Not everyone knew about Rosehearts-senpai’s…thing,” Yuu argued.

“By now, most of the Heartslabyul students do,” Deuce told her sheepishly. “Let alone the school. People can’t keep their mouths shut here, so the ‘explosion’ cover story didn’t hold up for long.”

“You mean _Deuce_ can’t keep his mouth shut,” Ace put in snidely.

“The three of you,” Trein barked. “Would you like to explain what you’re having so much fun talking about there?”

“No sir,” Deuce cleared his throat and sat up straight.

“Sorry sir,” Yuu, who was still in hot water after turning in two weeks’ worth of assignments late, shrunk in her seat.

Ace rolled his eyes but turned to face the front.

Although she was unsure of the details, apparently Trein was as aware as Crewel of the incident that had landed her in the infirmary for a night. He had accepted her late assignments without more than a glare—Lucius, on the other hand, jumped onto the podium desk to sniff her all over, an unexpected action that made Yuu freeze where she stood.

“ _Oaaa_ ,” he told her superciliously before dismissing her with a flick of his tail.

Yuu didn’t understand the language of cats yet (Animal Languages wasn’t taught until second year) but she got the condescending lilt to his voice clearly. It was too bad Lucius hated everyone, because she wanted to pet that lustrous fur of his just once.

New timetables in hand, the first year Class A went through morning classes restlessly, including Ace and Deuce. Joined classes marked a spot of brightness in the otherwise monotonous school life for many of them. Grim, who slept through the lectures, and Yuu, who was busy scribbling down notes to make up for her absences, finally managed to register the excitement after Trein had dismissed them for lunch and she looked up, clenching her sore fingers.

Grim yawned. “Why is it so loud today?”

Yuu shrugged as she blinked owlishly at the students making no move to leave their seats. Indeed, the noise level was close to double that of a regular class day.

“You’re gonna have it rough when you take the exams next month,” Ace remarked at the Monster. “If you keep sleeping in class like that, not even Yuu’s gonna save you.”

“I’ll figure it out somehow,” Grim blustered.

“By that he means _I’ll_ figure it out somehow,” Yuu sighed. “Shall we go…”

The end of her voice trailed off as the entrance to their classroom went unnaturally silent. With the restless buzz that had pervaded the classroom all morning, it seemed all the more apparent as students surrounding them trained their eyes on the door and dropped their chatter to hushed whispers.

“What’s _he_ doing here?”

“Dude, have you heard the rumours about that guy?”

“My roommate got Beheaded a week ago…”

“Why’s an upperclassman all the way down in the first-year’s classroom?”

“You don’t think he realized I snuck out last night, do you?”

“Shh! He’s looking this way, moron!”

Together with everyone else, Grim and Yuu craned their necks towards the door just in time for Riddle to poke his head in. Despite being almost a head shorter than one of the Octavinelle first-years frozen by him, he exuded a palpable aura of confidence as he scanned the room before catching sight of her.

“Senpai,” Yuu blinked in surprise.

“Geh, not again,” Grim emitted.

Riddle ignored all of the whispering and strode towards her desk. “Good, you were still here. Now come along, you’ll be late for lunch.”

“Wait a second, Dorm Head,” spluttered Ace, who’d been trying to inch away unnoticed. “Why are you…”

“I’m not talking to you, Ace,” Riddle gave him a dismissive glance, “Feel free to leave.”

“Rosehearts-senpai?” Yuu blinked as she packed away her writing tools. “Did you need me for something?”

“That’s right. I forgot to return the handkerchief you lent me, so I brought it with me.” Riddle smiled at her. “While I’m at it, shall we have lunch together? I never got to take up your offer to eat together back in September.”

“Oh, uh…”

“Yuu sits with us at lunch, though,” Ace muttered.

Riddle cast him a critical glance. “You may tag along if you so wish.”

“Why are you making it look like I’m a lonely guy with no friends!”

Yuu followed Riddle out of the classroom, bemused. With the upperclassmen’s strange actions this morning and now the Dorm Head’s insistent presence beside her today, she was wondering if they were, as Ace had accused Cater, ‘up to something’.

—

Heartslabyul Dorm’s students, spearheaded by Riddle, Cater, and Trey, behaved strangely the entire day. Where Yuu, who was persona non grata, had been ignored for the majority of the school year before, she was now approached by students with the red-and-black armbands for no visible reason other than to chat.

The first time it had happened, Ace and Deuce had taken twin steps forward to aggressively face them off. “Whoa,” Yuu stumbled backwards in the hallway as they crowded the group of Heartslabyul students out from her view.

“Hey, hey, firsties, don’t get so up in arms,” one of them put both hands up in a gesture of peace. “We ain’t here to fight. Just wanted to say hello.”

“Put away that nasty glare,” the second said nervously. “Like we’d mess with the Directing Student now. Dorm Head would beat the ever-loving hell out of us.”

“Yeah, sorry if I don’t believe your lame lies,” Ace’s voice had a hard edge she’d never heard in it before. “’Labyul kept messing with this kid back in September, so you’ve lost all trust with us.”

Deuce didn’t say anything, but he did start cracking his knuckles again.

“Man, our first years are scary this year,” a third one laughed, not seeming afraid in the least. “You two stick by the Directing Student, ’kay?”

“Right, right. He’s so small he might trip head over heels into trouble again the second you turn around.”

Grim exchanged glances with her. “Everyone’s been acting weird,” he wrinkled his snout. “Did you get into a mess again when I wasn’t looking?”

“Why do you doubt _me_ first?” Yuu protested. “I have no idea what’s going on.”

“Maybe ‘cause you’re a trouble magnet.”

Yuu scoffed, offended. She was a _normal_ person, not like those hero types back in Hogwarts. “I don’t wanna hear that from _you_.”

Riddle himself took the trouble to appear at Yuu’s classroom door to make sure she was fine after lunch and then again as soon as the bell rang for the end of the school day. Crewel—who had just finished soundly lecturing her about involving herself in dangerous situations, about taking better care of her skin since it was so nice, about being so defenceless in a school full of boys, and about not looking for a professor first when these things happened—glanced up from his desk in the back of the alchemy building and narrowed his eyes as he examined Riddle.

“You’re here for the little puppy,” his tone wasn’t questioning.

Riddle didn’t so much as lift a brow in surprise. “Of course I am, Professor.”

“If Rosehearts is taking care of you, then I suppose there’s little to worry about,” Crewel massaged his elegant brow and waved her off with a flick of his fingers. “Come back tomorrow so I can redo your bandages. Rosehearts, don’t let anyone else redo them, especially whoever put that flowery smelling garbage on the little puppy’s arms. Absolutely shoddy work.”

Riddle puffed up in righteous anger as they left the building. “Shoddy work!? There was nothing wrong with the bandaging!”

Yuu laughed nervously. “The Professor’s a bit strict about personal care.” It was a good thing that Cater hadn’t been around to hear Crewel call his lotion ‘flowery smelling garbage’.

Where before he would have thrown a tantrum, now Riddle breathed out a sharp burst of air and let it go. He glanced at her shoulder, where her school bag sat, frowning. “…I don’t see Grim.”

“Ace’s basketball club is doing a bunch of scrimmages today,” Yuu explained, “so he ran off to watch as soon as Professor Crewel pulled me aside after class.” Grim, being vaguely feline-looking, was even more afraid of Crewel’s ire than she was.

“He’s going to regret it when exam season crushes him,” Riddle commented. “Well, shall we go? Trey mentioned that today’s tea is Assam, so I’ve been looking forward to it all day. …Don’t tell him I said that.”

“I’ve never had Assam,” Yuu said curiously. “…Um, senpai. Where are we going?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Reviewing the material learned is the job of students. We’re going to the gardens to study,” Riddle said as if it were natural.

“Me too?” Yuu blinked.

“You’ve missed two weeks of classes,” Riddle narrowed his eyes at her. “On the contrary, I would like to ask you if you thought I would allow you to remain so miserably behind.”

She had meant to ask him about the weird things that had been taking place all day, but Riddle walked purposefully and started tugging on her wrist when she couldn’t catch up, so her questions were forgotten.

But he had so easily decided he was going to spend his afternoon with her. For her own good. These past few days Riddle had displayed an extent of responsibility over her that Yuu had never experienced before in her life, and even now he was trying to get her to catch up to classes…

“Stop grinning foolishly,” Riddle snapped at her.

“Sorry,” Yuu said unrepentantly.

It was no surprise to anyone that Riddle’s instruction was close to Spartan, nor that he was an excellent teacher. Over a steaming pot of Assam tea and under Trey’s amused stare as he read his magical science textbook across from them, Yuu tried to keep up with the Dorm Head’s drills.

“Not bad,” Riddle paused to pour himself a fourth cup. “I thought you would have been more hopeless.”

“Not _bad_?” Yuu groaned, slumped over her textbooks. “I feel like my brain just went through a wringer. I got half those questions wrong.”

“Most of those questions are aimed for second-years,” Trey put in mildly, flipping a page. “None of you have to be so serious about the exam, it’s still a month away. As long as you avoid red marks, you’ll be fine.”

“Trey, _you_ don’t worry enough,” Riddle snapped. “I know you can get much higher scores than you do if you would just apply yourself…”

Trey laughed. “Riddle holds too high of an opinion of me,” he told her conspiratorially.

Privately, Yuu agreed with the Dorm Head on this one—Trey was indeed more intelligent than he let on. But it was his prerogative not to focus on his studies, so she didn’t say anything.

Life in the Heartslabyul dorm was, if one ignored the strange rules about playing croquet with flamingos, bright and orderly. Savanaclaw students tended to mock them for being a gathering of rich boys, but there was something to be said for the comparatively structured way they went about their day. Since Yuu was deliberately placed beside Riddle and one of the upperclassmen most of the day, she experienced this even more strongly, as despite his Overblot, Riddle was still a stickler for the rules.

Yuu sucked at croquet and was soundly laughed at by her spectators, but she once again found herself thinking that living here would be a lot of fun. Especially when Ace, Deuce, and a bunch of other students roped her and Grim in for video game tournaments that she didn’t know how to play at all.

This place was full of smiles, full of action and vitality. Full of her friends.

The second day of her ‘imprisonment’ at Heartslabyul passed by much the same way—at first. Their Class A had been paired with Class C for the day, which one of Ace’s roommates belonged to, but Yuu was faced with a wall of unfriendly glares by the rest of the students.

She was long used to the negative attention, so ignored it soundly until a Pomefiore student insulted her for being relegated to running laps in Flight class. That was normal. Immediately the Heartslabyul students backed away from him to form a circle and proceeded to stare at him, whispering loudly among themselves—that was _not_ normal. Yuu squinted briefly at the gathering group, but when nothing happened, merely rolled her eyes as she continued puffing her way around the field.

Minutes later, once in the sky, Ace and Deuce proceeded to ‘accidentally’ fly straight into the student and nearly cause a fight. The rest of the Heartslabyul students in the two classes cheered them on and pissed off another Pomefiore student so bad that he flung his white glove on the ground with a slap and called for them to pick it up.

Grim incinerated it with a fireball as he zoomed by and incited chaos in the sky.

Vargas was no help, as he was too busy criticizing their musculature and striking poses in the sunlight. He didn’t seem to care at all. Weren’t personal fights forbidden between students? Where on earth was Crowley when they needed him? Yuu decided she wasn’t about to be involved with the morons checking each other back and forth on their brooms and continued her hellish laps around NRC’s circular field, focusing on not collapsing.

During lunch break, Riddle took one look at Ace and Deuce, who were both a little scraped and sullen, and turned wordlessly to Yuu for explanation. As they regrouped with Trey and began the trek down towards the lunchroom, she filled them in on the events, whereupon Riddle stopped glaring at the two and nodded in satisfaction. “Did you prevent him from saying things like that ever again?”

Deuce showed his teeth in a grin. “Don’t worry, boss—er, Dorm Head, we beat it right into him.”

Yuu gaped between them before turning to Trey for help. The third year smiled at her. “These things happen. Let us know if they bother you next time, all right?”

“There will be no next time,” Riddle told her with an angelic smile. “We’ll make them rue the day they were conceived.”

She took it back. Everyone in Heartslabyul was _insane._ Grim was excused, since he wasn’t remotely close to human, but Riddle’s common sense wasn’t as sense-making as she’d imagined. Tyrant, indeed.

It was on their way back from lunch when they crossed paths with Leona and Ruggie. Yuu was trying to convince Grim to study with her after school that day without fruition, and Riddle was glaring in the Monster’s direction with the heat of a furnace behind his grey eyes, causing him to squeeze onto her other shoulder warily, when their voices reached her group.

“…definitely knows,” Ruggie was muttering, ears pulled back, “And hasn’t done _anything_ about it. I knew there wasn’t a single half-decent teacher in this school.”

“Ignore him,” Leona yawned widely, exposing his two sharp canines. His school blazer was nowhere to be seen, leaving him in only the goldenrod vest and a messily buttoned white shirt. “It’s the same thing as giving us permission.”

“You would’ve done whatever you wanted _without_ permission,” Ruggie rolled his eyes. “And seriously, Leona-san, he was right about attendance. You need to go to class this month or else you’re really gonna flunk another year.”

“Ruggie’s correct,” Riddle, unable to resist, paused by the passing two to add in his two cents with a frown. “Leona, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you in this hallway. Am I correct in assuming that you’ve finally reformed your indolent ways? And it only took a near-death experience.”

“Aah?” Leona looked down at them with a slow blink. “If it isn’t the kidnappers from Heartslabyul. I see you’re still dragging the herbivore around like a prisoner…be careful he doesn’t exhaust his affection of you guys and escape.”

“Can these guys not start insulting each other the second they lock eyes?” Yuu muttered to Grim. But the Monster refused to look away from Leona, tail standing up straight.

“It’s funny how you call us kidnappers when you’re the one who stole Yuu straight out of the infirmary and caused the incident in the first place,” Ace retorted, smile stretching tight. “That’s the biggest boomerang I’ve ever seen.”

“Hey, we didn’t know him very well back then,” Ruggie shrugged, “unlike you guys who call yourselves his friends.”

“It’s _because_ we’re his friends that we find it necessary to properly educate him on what the right way to live is,” Riddle snapped back.

“‘Right way to live’, indeed,” Ruggie murmured, his blue-grey eyes cooling a few shades.

“It must be smothering,” Leona turned to her with a mean smile. Grim dug his claws into her shoulders. “Being herded everywhere in figurative chains all the time. What do you say, herbivore, feel like ditching ‘em and transferring over yet?”

“ _Shi shi shi_.” Ruggie lifted a hand to cover his chuckle. “I’d recommend making a decision fast, Yuu-kun. Someone as easily taken advantage as you is only gonna suffer losses if you aren’t accompanied by someone like me or Leona-san.”

“Whoa, whoa,” Trey said mildly, “sorry, but we can’t let one of ours follow a stranger who goes around tripping people off stairs.”

He was still smiling at Ruggie as he said it, the kind of smile that made her swallow her instinctive ‘I’m not a Heartslabyul student’. Yuu remembered that Trey’s damaged ankle (and hers) was a product of Ruggie’s Unique Magic and winced. The vice Dorm Head was in no way easily appeased.

A tense silence stretched tight over the hallway.

Grim broke it with a hiss as he climbed up onto her head to face Leona. Yuu wobbled—he was surprisingly heavy. Deuce steadied her shoulder with a hand as Grim stretched himself up to his full seventy centimetres and puffed out his chest in a gesture of intimidation. “Hey Leona!” he shouted. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but just because my henchman is ‘nice’ to other people doesn’t mean he likes you.”

“Grim!?” Yuu yelped.

“My henchman,” Grim steamrolled over her, “is _mine_. Not yours, not that angry Riddle’s. You might be some scary predator who hasn’t showed Yuu how really scary you are yet. But I won’t let you hunt him. Not Yuu.”

“This cat,” Riddle muttered, transferring his glare to Grim. “Yuu doesn’t belong to you, either!”

“Damn,” Ruggie whistled, “for a tiny animal, he sure is brave, standing up to Leona-san. Is he even prepared to back up his statement?”

“Best not to say things like that if you’re not ready to follow it with action,” Leona told Grim softly. “You’ll really fight me for him?”

The air thickened with pressure that sent the Monster’s paws digging into her scalp. Deuce’s gloved fingers tightened around her shoulder; beside her, Ace tensed and lost his smile.

“I don’t care if you go and mess with the Magift team.” Grim’s voice barely trembled. “But I won’t let you touch my henchman.”

Ace blinked consideringly down at her. “I think that’s the first time he’s said something impressive,” he whispered.

Yuu was too busy trying not to snatch Grim into her arms and squeeze him. But she didn’t want to cheapen his words with her own response, so instead she nodded several times at Ace with wide eyes until he got his grin back and rolled his eyes at her.

Leona narrowed his green eyes at Grim consideringly. “…This furball is your partner?” he asked her.

“He’s got a dirty mouth,” Yuu said sheepishly under Grim’s weight. “But we’re admitted as a single student here, so yeah, he’s my partner. My two-in-one.”

“Hmm.” Leona blinked once, twice. “If you must, you can bring him with you when you transfer.”

“I won’t let that happen as long as you’re alive,” seethed Riddle. “Are you prepared to lay it on the line?”

“ _Hou_? And you think that you could stop me, when it took five of you to take me down last time,” Leona cast him a dismissive glance. “What’s to say that the herbivore won’t get tired of you and come searching for me himself?”

“Please,” Riddle tilted his chin up challengingly, “Yuu likes it at Heartslabyul plenty. And unlike the savages you keep in your dorm, no one will lift a hand towards him here.”

“If I remember right, a lot of the people bullying him in September came from Heartslabyul, didn’t they?” Leona drawled, sending a glance at Ruggie.

“That’s right,” Ruggie smirked over at them, “so get off your high horse, rich boys.”

“That’s it,” Deuce growled, reaching for his Pen.

“You sure you wanna go?” Ruggie bared a row of sharp teeth. “When you lost so miserably to me last time?”

“With how poorly built you are, you wouldn’t last a minute once I landed a hit,” Deuce told him coldly, speech patterns falling apart again. “All you’ve got is speed, Bucchi-senpai. Don’t underestimate me.”

“Deuce,” Yuu pulled Grim from atop her head (he was getting heavy), “You’re gonna get in trouble again!”

“There are some battles a man’s gotta have,” Deuce pressed in front of her halfway. “You understand, right, Yuu?”

Yuu looked skyward. _Like hell I do_.

Still, further words were useless when Deuce got like this, and turning to Ace only rewarded her with a playful grin. Why were her friends so eager to brawl? It was even worse than when they insisted on charging ahead in shooting games in the Heartslabyul dorm and got their team wiped out instantly.

Riddle, who would usually be the one to check Deuce’s rampages in times like these, was instead twirling his own Pen between his fingers, an arrogant smile tugging upwards at his cheeks. “You know, Leona, an insult to me is grounds enough for execution.”

“You know, lifting a finger against me violates seven or eight laws where I come from,” Leona mimicked lazily, lowering his centre of gravity. “You wanna start an international incident?”

“Trey-senpai,” Yuu looked to him to calm the situation down, as was his forte.

“ _Funaaa!_ Let me go, henchman!” Grim struggled in her grip.

Trey smiled benignly at her. “Hmm?”

“They’re gonna start a fight!” she hissed, hugging the Monster tighter.

“You’re right, it might get dangerous,” Trey looked as if he’d just realised it. “Come back here with me, transfer, out of the way of direct fire. We can’t have you getting any more hurt.”

“ _Trey-senpai!_ ”

“Leona-san!” Leopard came jogging up to the gathering crowd, flanked by Jackal and Aardvark. “You finished your meeting with the Headmaster?”

Yuu blinked as she finally regained enough wherewithal to look around—the presence of two Dorm Heads glaring each other down in the middle of the hallway had attracted quite a few bystanders. Yuu wasn’t the best at reading social situations, but even she could see the awe, fear, and respect that made the cluster of students leave a healthy distance between the two leaders. One of the Equestrian Club members caught her eye and gave her a pitying glance.

“Did you get it arranged?” Ruggie greeted the three new arrivals with a jerk of his chin.

“Obviously, or else we wouldn’t be here. Who do you think we are?” Jackal snorted and jabbed a finger to his left. “This moron here kept going ‘we have to do better for Leona-san!’ like that first-year moss-head from Diasomnia.”

“Shut up! I’m not as loud as that guy!” Aardvark snapped.

Leopard scanned the group of Heartslabyul students, losing his easy grin. “…Leona-san, any trouble? Want us to deal with it?”

“Nah,” Leona’s grin widened unpleasantly. “We were just having a conversation. Right, herbivore?”

Yuu sighed. “Why do you keep directing the conversation back to me?” she asked him grumpily. “And please stop provoking everyone. I don’t want to get in trouble for fighting when I’ve just come back from missing so much class.”

“Oh?” Jackal leaned around Ruggie with a grin. “That voice! Is it Yuu-chan? Man, you were so small I didn’t even notice you!”

Grim went stiff in her arms.

“Only one blockhead would be so openly disrespectful around Leona-san,” Aardvark sighed, crossing his arms. “Not going to make the excuse that you still aren’t aware of his identity, will ya, Yuu-chan?”

“I’m using polite speech,” Yuu protested. “What d’you want, me to start imitating you all the time and shouting Leona-san! At the top of my lungs?”

“Please don’t. I share rooms with the idiot you call Giraffe-senpai and if you started imitating this dude, he’d laugh so hard he’d actually die,” Leopard deadpanned. “Heard you ended up in the hospital after that huge fight, Yuu-chan! You look like a mummy.”

“Smells like Crewel,” Jackal wrinkled his nose as he surveyed her bandaged fingers. “Feeling better, kid? When are you coming over again?”

“Coming over again!?” Ace spluttered. “Hold on a sec!”

“Right, right,” Leopard ignored him, “we’re having a bunch of really high-quality meat for a barbeque, since Leona-san caused us all so much trouble.”

“Wanna die?” Leona growled, but didn’t protest otherwise.

“So anyway, the others were asking after you, since you were wrapped up in the whole situation too,” Aardvark grumbled. “Not that I care if you’re coming or not.”

“This _tsundere_ was actually worried you’d died after we didn’t see you the day of the tourney,” Jackal told her in a carrying whisper, “he still has your crutch, you know.”

Aardvark rounded on him. “Do you want me to carve you a new set of nostrils? _Aaah_?”

Yuu couldn’t help her laugh. “Don’t worry, guys, I’m totally fine. Just a really bad case of dry skin which was all Leona-senpai’s fault. He definitely owes _me_ some high-quality meat.”

“Man, you’re the only one who’s got the balls to talk about the Dorm Head like that right to his face, Yuu-chan,” Leopard shook his head in admiration. “As expected of the kid who passed initiation.”

“Initiation!?” Deuce reacted this time.

“So you’re coming?” Leona arched an eyebrow at her. “It’s next week. Granted you get released from the Queen over here, we’ll send someone to get you. Or let us know if you need someone to bust you out of there.”

“Leave it to me,” Ruggie grinned, thumbing his chest, “you already know no one can beat me in thievery.”

“Is that something to be proud of?” Yuu gave him a flat stare.

“As if I’ll allow Yuu to set foot in that dorm all alone,” Riddle took one step in front of her.

“Geh, it’s the scary Heartslabyul Dorm Head,” Jackal muttered, taking a cautious step backwards. Clearly, he remembered the time when Riddle had wiped the floor with him back during the Magift tournament.

“You think maybe you should let Yuu-kun make decisions by himself?” Ruggie squinted at Riddle. “He’s got a life of his own, you know.”

“It’s precisely because he doesn’t understand how to live correctly that I’ve taken him under my care,” Riddle released a dismissive breath from his nose. “Outsiders should remain quiet about our matters.”

“Outsiders?” Ruggie narrowed his eyes, losing any remaining cheer from his expression. “Please. We know Yuu-kun better than you do.”

“Okay, that’s enough. Like hell you do,” Ace burst out, stepping in front of her. “Just ‘cause this kid’s got no sense of self-preservation doesn’t mean he likes you. Yuu’s _our_ friend, so stay out of it.”

“That’s right. We’re _true_ buddies,” Deuce added pompously, “we hang out all the time and like sworn brothers, have sleepovers on the same bed and eat from the same plate. There’s no way you know him better than we do.”

Leona’s brows furrowed over his eyes.

“ _Huh_? Same…You let them into your room!?” Ruggie stared at her, pointing at Ace and Deuce. “What the hell, Yuu-kun! They’re teenage boys!”

“Um, okay?” Yuu squinted. “So are you.”

“Oh my fricking Greats,” Ruggie dragged his palms down his cheeks, “And this moron’s probably okay with sleeping everywhere in Heartslabyul too.”

“How did you know my henchman sleeps everywhere?” Grim asked suspiciously.

“ _You_ sleep everywhere,” Yuu reminded him.

“Oh my fricking _Greats_ ,” the hyena Therianthrope repeated, wearing the same sort of despairing expression he’d had back in the infirmary. “We can’t let him stay there. Leona-san? We gotta get Yuu-kun out of that den right now. This kid has no idea what normal societal rules are like!! Sh…He’s gonna get attacked one day!”

Yuu exchanged confused glances with Leopard and Jackal. The latter twirled his finger around his temple and mouthed ‘crazy’. Aardvark, who had indeed punched her several times, was looking at the ceiling determinedly.

“Relax, Ruggie,” Leona rolled his eyes, “no one knows what you’re talking about. Plus, if you’re talking about sleepovers, we’ve had plenty of them too, haven’t we? You know the herbivore just as well as those guys.”

“That’s not the problem!” Ruggie said shrilly. “Someone needs to fix Yuu-kun’s brain!”

“Hey!” Yuu protested as Leopard and Jackal broke into snickers. “Why am I suddenly being insulted?”

“Think about that on your own,” Leona told her with a shake of his head.

“Yuu,” Deuce turned to her, looking like a wounded animal, “you’ve had sleepovers with them too? Even though you’re _our_ friend?”

Yuu didn’t know why he looked so betrayed. “Umm. Deuce, don’t listen to them, they’re just trying to get you angry. Lunch break is gonna be over soon, so let’s just head back to class, all right?”

“…In the couple weeks you were gone,” Ace frowned shrewdly, “you seem to have gotten all chummy with Savanaclaw. You know they’re the enemy, right?”

“Still!?” Yuu gaped at him. “I thought you guys had enough after you beat them in the Magift match!”

“Yeah, but it’s different when you’re being so…so familiar with them!” Ace retorted. “No wonder Dorm Head wanted you on a leash. I thought he was overreacting, but you really do wander off taming everyone indiscriminately.”

“What?” Yuu said intelligently.

Deuce slung a heavy arm around her shoulder. “Hey, we still do know you the best, right?” he peered down into her face.

“I guess?” she blinked. “We’re buddies, right?”

Ace threw his own arm around her other shoulder, crowding them in. “That’s right,” he said smugly, “we’re buddies. The _best_ buddies.”

“Hey, Yuu’s _my_ henchman,” Grim piped up.

“What’s up with you guys all of a sudden?” Yuu glanced back and forth between them. “Did you piss off another upperclassman and need me to run interference?”

“Aww, c’mon. It’s just skinship!” Ace cajoled, leaning most of his body weight on her.

“Why do you always do that!?” Yuu stumbled into Deuce. “You know I can’t withstand your weight!”

“Ace is just a bully,” Deuce remarked, taking on the brunt of their weight with little more than a grunt. “You sure you still want to be friends with him?”

“Huh? At least I’m not an ex-delinquent.”

“I’m a _model student_ you bastard!”

“Are they always like that?” Leona asked Riddle as the three of them huddled together, observing them quietly.

“…The three of them have been close since that disaster that nearly expelled them the first day of the semester,” Riddle admitted reluctantly. “And Yuu’s unbelievably good at worming past defences.”

“You got that right,” Ruggie muttered.

“I’m more surprised that he’s managed to get to you two,” Riddle cast him a critical stare. “…Well, after the way he risked it all to save you, it might have been inevitable.”

“Sympathizing with me because you were saved the same way?” Leona’s mouth twisted in an unfriendly smile.

“As if I’d do something like that.” Riddle answered Leona’s smirk with his own haughty one. “I’ll not hand Yuu over to the likes of you, whether you owe him or not.”

“…Ha. That’s my line, Queen.” Leona narrowed his eyes like a lion spotting prey. “Careful now. Wouldn’t want the herbivore to disappear right under your nose.”

“Please. I just have to crush anyone who stands in my way.”

Ruggie glanced between the two glaring Dorm Heads and traded headshakes with his dorm mates. “Ever think being insane is a prerequisite for being a Dorm Head?” he muttered.

“All the damn time,” Leopard nodded fervently.

—

Thursday after school found Yuu staring at the ground, folded into a ninety-degree bow of apology as Azul Ashengrotto regarded her coldly across his office desk. The silence permeating Mostro Lounge’s VIP Room was oppressive enough to make her sweat nervously, but she couldn’t lift her head. Not when she owed him an apology.

Yuu had, to put it simply, screwed up.

The turn of events had started with Crowley calling her into his office that morning. Yuu, who had woken up early at Crewel’s behest to travel all the way to the alchemy building so he could change her bandages, wound up in the school building early that day. She barely made it into the first-floor corridor before the Headmaster dropped down out of the sky without a sound, making her jump so violently that Grim fell from her shoulders still asleep and fell unceremoniously into her schoolbag.

The way Crowley leapt in and out of classrooms, hallways and Ramshackle was enough to shave years off her life. She didn’t understand how everyone else got used to it so fast. Grim didn’t even wake up at his appearances anymore.

In his office, Crowley fussed over her with theatrical sobbing and empty warnings to stay out of trouble. Yuu had heard from Ruggie that he’d been unusually angry when he’d discovered Leona unconscious in the aftermath of his Overblot, but in front of her, the Headmaster showed no signs of ill temper. Still full of bruising and scrapes, she’d woken up heavy and achy, but curiously, when perched in a chair across from Crowley, listening sleepily to his rambling, Yuu’s exhaustion seemed to slowly seep away.

“—told Mister Trappola and Mister Spade _not_ to involve you in the string of incidents involving Magift players,” Crowley had sighed, shaking his head so the raven’s beak swung back and forth. “And yet you still found some way to get involved even more heavily than I expected.”

“You told Ace and Deuce what?” Yuu flexed her fingers, feeling the sting recede with absent curiosity.

“It’s too late now,” the Headmaster lifted his hands elegantly in a shrug, “but back at the beginning of the month, I had entrusted the two of them to look into the accidents. Mister Grim, as well, although his was not a mandatory participation. With the terms that they did not involve you needlessly.”

“Me?” Yuu repeated confusedly. “Why?”

“Why?” he laughed incredulously. “My dear. Just look at what happened in the past two months. Do you know how rare and dangerous Overblots are? You are one of the few to have survived an encounter with one—let alone a second. Last time, I had a bad premonition that you would get mixed up in another dangerous situation, but it seems I could not stop it this time, either.”

“That’s not your fault,” Yuu shook her head sombrely. “It was just by accident that I found myself part of the victims. Plus, I wasn’t about to leave Leona-senpai alone in that state.”

“Oh, yes…Mister Kingscholar.” Crowley sighed. “Are you aware that he broke my door yesterday? I think that was the first time he stepped into my office out of his own volition.”

“Leona-senpai did what?” she gaped at him. Half buried in the schoolbag held in her lap, Grim grumbled and dug his claws into the fabric. “Isn’t he in trouble? Why the heck would he put himself in _more_?”

“…He didn’t tell you?” Crowley blinked the twin golden orbs glowing behind his mask. “…Hmm. How unusual…Yuu-kun, you truly are an animal tamer surpassing my wildest imagination. Well, far be it for me to spoil the surprise.”

“You know, Headmaster, I feel like I only understand thirty percent of what you say,” Yuu wrinkled her nose at him.

Crowley ignored her. “That’s right!” He reached into a drawer. “I have a letter here for you. You know, I’m not a mailman! We’re going to have to get some method of communication that doesn’t come from before the smartphone was invented, but here you go. Keep it safe.”

Yuu received the envelope. “Thanks. Form of communication?”

“That’s right…” Crowley tapped a metal-tipped finger on his chin for a moment as she tucked it away. “…How about this, Yuu-kun. Professor Crewel is in charge of your clothing situation, and your part-time job hasn’t driven you to tears yet. If you can keep up your marks past the term exams, I’ll see what I can do about getting you a phone next month.”

“A phone!?” Yuu parroted, feeling like Crowley always left her reeling. “But that’s really expensive. And I don’t need a phone.”

“Yuu-kun,” Crowley admonished, “this past incident happened because you didn’t find a teacher for help when you should have. Do you understand that, strange magical abilities aside, you are vulnerable to things of this world in a way no one knows?”

“I’m fine,” she started automatically. But a single look silenced her.

“…I’m sure Mister Rosehearts and Professor Crewel said enough on this topic already,” Crowley said after a pause. “But allow me my own addition. It is the job of a teacher to protect their students. Now that I am aware of just how unreliable you are, I and the other teachers will be taking steps to make sure you do not accidentally get yourself killed before you find a way home.”

“Am I really that unreliable?” Yuu muttered.

“Do you want me to answer that question?”

She was _fine_ , though, Yuu thought, unsatisfied. Why was everyone so weird about this?

Yuu chatted with Crowley about the next month’s schedules up until the warning bell, whereupon Grim finally woke up and the Headmaster had the grace to drop her off in the first years’ classroom. Ace and Deuce were waiting, both antsy and excited. Today, their Class A had been partnered with the first year Class D, and the combined first hour involved the theory and practice of defence magic.

It was the beginning of the unit on practical magic, which meant that Yuu was to sit to the side, listening to Trein and Crewel lecture on the fascinating theory behind this world’s spellcasting as bright bursts of Penlight illuminated the room. She was also the stopper to her overexcited partner.

Grim’s control, to put it politely, was atrocious enough to pose a threat to everyone’s safety. And as the Directing Student, it was up to her to keep his bursts of fire under relative control. Consequently, the letter stuffed in her bag was forgotten about entirely until Riddle came to get her after the last bell for Heartslabyul’s afternoon tea and lesson review.

Yuu had just settled down around one of the tables in the garden clearing surrounded by rosebushes when she remembered. Cater had joined them—today was a rest day for his Light Music club—and was chattering with Trey about how today was the last sunny day before it _really_ started getting cold this year.

Yuu rummaged in her bag for her pencils as Grim climbed up on the table and started on her cookies. Her hand closed around the letter as Trey poured them each cups of Earl Grey. “We’re going to have to bring the hedgehogs in for the winter soon,” he was musing.

“That’s scheduled this weekend,” Riddle didn’t miss a beat as he accepted his steaming teacup. “With the flamingos. We’ll also have to put away all of the tablecloths and outside ornamentation before they suffer snow damage…Yuu, what’s wrong?”

The three upperclassmen turned their attention to her. Yuu didn’t notice—she was too busy reading the thick parchment letter with dawning horror.

The moment she’d laid eyes on Mostro Lounge’s wax seal, her stomach had sunk in realization. In the end, with the stampede and the Overblot and her resulting hospital stay, Yuu hadn’t been able to fulfil her duties as a member of the crowd salesmen during game day. What was worse, she’d made a contract that she didn’t keep—if Azul didn’t kill her, Floyd would. Happily.

The letter itself was innocuous. In Azul’s neat, looping cursive, it noted her absence, that he was aware of her hospital stay, and asked politely after her health. Yuu was reminded of every yakuza film she’d ever watched where one of these neatly worded messages preceded a ‘debt collection’.

“Damn it,” Yuu groaned.

Riddle’s glare on her intensified. “Watch your mouth, Yuu.”

“The A-Deuce combo really have a bad influence on you, don’t they?” Cater remarked with a grin, looking curiously down at the letter between her fingers. “Yuu-chan didn’t used to swear.”

“Who cares how he talks?” Grim said through a mouthful of cookie.

“I wouldn’t expect _you_ to understand,” Riddle sniffed at him. “Stop getting hairs on the tablecloth!”

“What’s wrong?” Trey peered at her over his glasses concernedly. “Need our help for something?”

“No, no,” Yuu said hastily, “it’s just…you know how I found a part-time job?”

“You did?” Riddle lifted both brows.

“Deuce-chan was talking about it a few weeks ago, I think,” Cater wrinkled his handsome brow in thought. “Something about how cool Yuu-chan was for refusing to borrow money and instead earning it on his own merits?”

“More like stupid,” Grim said loudly. “Yuu should just go and take some from Crowley. Like I do with tuna cans.”

“Huh. It was right around the time I fell from the stairs, wasn’t it,” Trey nodded. “With all the stuff going on, we must have missed it.”

“You need to obtain permission from the Headmaster for off-campus work,” Riddle said sternly.

“Don’t worry, I’m not stupid enough to go wandering around in a world I don’t know anything about trying to earn money,” Yuu assured them hastily. “My part time job is within school grounds. Have you guys head of the Mostro Lounge?”

Riddle jerked to his feet, shoving his chair backwards in surprise. “— _What_!?”

“Hey!” the impact of his hands hitting the table nearly knocked Grim into the macaron tower. The Monster gave Riddle a weird glance. “What’s with you all of a sudden!?”

Yuu blinked confusedly at Trey for help—but he, too, was staring at her with his glasses askew. Beside him, Cater had put his ever-present phone down and was gaping at her openly.

“…Don’t tell me there’s a Heartslabyul rule against working there or something?” she tried hesitantly when they all continued to stare silently.

“No—that’s—” Riddle struggled to form a sentence.

Cater started laughing, leaning back in his seat and clutching his stomach. “By the Greats,” he gasped, “Yuu-chan, I knew there was a reason I liked you. I swear, you never fail to completely turn everything on its head.”

“Ah…” Trey coughed once to regain his bearings and answer her helpless look of askance. “…Transfer, how long have you been working there?”

“I did a trial week before they shortened hours for preparations for the Magift tournament.” Yuu explained. “I’m supposed to start again this week. So, not too long?”

“Should just quit,” Grim muttered moodily, crumbs covering his snout.

“And they _kept_ you,” Cater shook his head in amazement. “…Well, if anyone was gonna just walk into a dungeon like that and walk back out unscathed, it’d be Yuu-chan, I guess.”

“They’re not very friendly to outsiders,” Yuu nodded, “but the people there aren’t so bad. Well, most of them. The job itself is manageable.”

“Aren’t so _bad_ ,” Cater wheezed.

“You haven’t been chased around by anyone, right?” Riddle said tensely, sitting back down. “No one’s given you a hard time? There’s more than one of those Octavinelle students that are…”

“That are…?” Yuu blinked. Chased around?

“Riddle’s not on very good terms with some of the students from that dorm,” Trey told her dryly. “…Anyway, what were you saying? Something wrong with your job?”

“No, I just…” she sighed, slumping in her seat. “I had a shift the day of the tournament and I totally slept through it in the hospital. So in effect I skipped without permission.”

“Ooh, that sucks. And I’m guessing that letter is asking you why you didn’t show up,” Cater pointed at the parchment in her hands.

Yuu nodded miserably. “Can’t believe I forgot. I need to go apologize right away,” she groaned. “Um, Grim, do you mind hanging out with these senpai while I go hop down to Octavinelle?”

“What? Yeah I mind,” Grim’s unhappy look was mitigated by the crumbs spotting his face. “I still don’t get why you don’t just beg the money off Crowley. He likes you.”

“You think that Transfer is used to accepting things from others?” Trey pointed out mildly. “We’re working on it, but for now it’s important to let him warm up to it at his own pace. We’ll handle the rest.”

“This guy says some scary stuff with a straight face,” Cater muttered as Yuu squinted at Trey in incomprehension.

Riddle sighed. “Normally, I wouldn’t allow this, especially since you’re still under probation,” he told her. “But your diligence is a hallmark of a Heartslabyul student, and leaving the problem alone will absolutely make it worse in this case. Cater will send you off to the Mirror, so if things get out of hand, run straight back through. Clear?”

“They’re not going to try and _kill_ me,” Yuu tried weakly, giving up on protesting that she wasn’t a Heartslabyul student.

Now, facing Azul’s zero-degree glare, she was losing what little confidence she had in that statement. Yuu kept her head down and withstood his frosty silence.

Azul finally released a long breath. “…Do tell me, Yuu-san, the meaning behind those bandages on your arms.”

Yuu straightened cautiously. “…I got into a fight,” she said carefully.

“A fight, indeed…” Azul pinched the bridge of his nose with a gloved hand. “You’re making it very difficult to trap you in the kitchens as a dishwasher for a week, what with those useless hands.”

“I’m really sorry,” Yuu said contritely. “After I almost got stampeded in the crowd I got carried off and then…stuff happened and I lost consciousness. So I didn’t manage to sell anything.”

“Jade’s reported the happenings of that day to me already,” Azul waved it off. “I would have expected you to make more convincing excuses. Don’t you have anything to say for yourself?”

Yuu was unaware of the extent of Jade’s information-gathering skills—but he was Octavinelle’s vice Dorm Head and she wouldn’t put it past him to have found out about the Overblot. If it wasn’t common knowledge already. People believed Floyd to be the scary Leech sibling in the Lounge, but Yuu was absolutely sure it was Jade who needed to be watched out for.

“It was my fault?” she tried pathetically.

Azul let out a second sigh. “Has anyone told you that you’ve got a disadvantaged personality? Normally, one would lie to excuse their absence.”

“But…after all the hard work and stuff you put into the booths, it’d be unfair.” Yuu protested. Putting the issue of lying aside, Azul was such a hard worker that she balked at the idea of tricking him. Not that he was easy to trick.

“A disadvantaged personality,” Azul repeated. “I know very well who you are protecting with your refusal to talk, Yuu-san. …Are you not afraid I’ll bring up your broken contract?”

“Well,” Yuu grinned sheepishly. “I deserve it anyway. So I’ll leave it to you, Ashengrotto-senpai.”

Azul blinked at her. When she met his eyes for the first time that day, Yuu saw the beginnings of circles under them. “Strange,” he murmured. “I would have expected your spirit to be broken after what Jade told me. Not wearing that stupidly optimistic look on your face, as always.”

“…How much do you know?” Yuu asked cautiously.

Azul arched a brow at her.

“Never mind,” she muttered.

“Out of all of the fools in this school,” he said absently, “perhaps you are the most misfortunate person I have the honour of knowing, Yuu-san.”

“You say that to someone who’s managed to travel between worlds?” Yuu grinned.

“In a way, that makes you _more_ misfortunate,” he retorted. “I don’t understand why you’re still so energetic when you’ve been run this ragged.”

“Because I’m fine,” Yuu shrugged.

Azul didn’t respond. He just leaned over his steepled fingers and stared at her with the same unnerving intensity she was beginning to associate with this world’s Mermen.

Yuu shifted. “Well, _signore capo_ , what’s the verdict? Do I live?”

“Don’t call me that,” he snapped. “It seems that you’ve got plenty of resilience. Why don’t you go work in the Lounge hall where you don’t have to wet your fingers and report back to me at the end of the day. I’ll decide how to deal with you by then.”

“But you act just like a mafia boss,” Yuu muttered and got out of there before he could respond.

Secretly, she was pleasantly surprised that Azul hadn’t fired her on the spot—or exacted whatever cruel and unusual punishment she knew he was capable of but had never seen first-hand. There was a reason why the Octavinelle students gave him and the Leech twins a wide berth.

Either way, Yuu thought as she changed into her Lounge uniform, all she had to do was make it through tonight’s shift unscathed and be on her best behaviour for Azul. Surely it would be easier than the classes she’d gone through today.

Yuu was proven wrong when she walked out of the washroom stall and straight into Floyd.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
>  **Edited |** December 31st, 2020 for grammar, spelling, and minor details.
> 
> —
> 
> **Definitions |**
> 
> _gata/kata (方)_ | polite way to refer to a person or multiple people. (see Chapter 10’s definitions for some other ways to refer to multiple people!) Deuce uses this when addressing his upperclassmen.
> 
>  _hou (ほう)_ | a noise that one makes displaying understanding, interest, etc. A little masculine? (Can be used by both genders.) Often used in mystery manga (i.e. Conan)
> 
>  _skinship (スキンシップ)_ | A Japanese-ism of foreign words. A portmanteau of (most likely) “skin” and “friendship” and basically means the physical contact that friendly people engage in. By the way, Yuu uses a lot of skinship since her arrival in this world (her friends have gotten more or less used to it…)
> 
> —
> 
> First of all—thank you wonderful readers for following and messaging me on Twitter already!! I’m always so impressed by your enthusiasm…! Please never hesitate to send me a DM whenever you please; in fact, I have half a mind to DM all of you who’ve followed me because you guys are the best. Second, any very specific update information will probably go up on Twitter (in English) from now on—i.e. when I have time to respond to comments, time of day chapter will go up, etc. You don’t need to create an account, but if you want to check to see what time of day I’ll be posting on, try looking up my Twitter on the day of release!
> 
>  **Question |** How is the display experience of this story for everyone? I’m wondering if the size of the font, the background colour etc. is presentable. I was fiddling around with the “work skin creator” last week while procrastinating on exams, but increasing the font size whites out all the links for some reason… If there are any suggestions anyone has (example: “I think the text size is too small!”) I will take it into account and try to figure out a solution! There are always extensions on your browser that can customize your viewing experience, too!
> 
>  **About the update schedule |** It looks like the beginning of next year is going to be quite difficult for me to stick to the 10-day update schedule I currently have. School starts for me on January freakin’ second for reasons beyond my understanding… Therefore, chapters are probably going to slow slightly down to bi-weekly (or twice a month) for the foreseeable future. I do sincerely apologize for the delay! Someone give real life a kick in the teeth for me please 😊
> 
> As the holiday season gets extremely busy for me, the next update will be on December 31st to round off the year before Lilia’s birthday on New Years’! This means we’ll be celebrating Lilia’s birthday a day early (or on-time in Japan depending on the way you consider it). Please look forward to it.
> 
> I am eagerly awaiting any and all comments below! I love comments like I love candy canes 🍬 Thank you as always for reading! 💕💕 Wishing everyone a wonderful and bright holiday season no matter what you celebrate!🎄🎁🎅🏻✨
> 
> —


	14. The Essence of Humanity.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As she is exposed to the deep-rooted diversity of the many species on campus, Yuu begins to wonder if she’ll ever be able to understand them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
> Happy birthday, Lilia! 🦇 Your family appreciates you more than you know. Thank you for all of the hard work you have put into watching over them all! 
> 
> Also, **HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 🎉🍾🥂🎆🎇🎊🥳2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣1️⃣** Wishing everyone a bright year full of joy and successes.
> 
> —
> 
> I apologize if I worded things confusingly last chapter—to clarify: just because we’re not going into Episode 3 right away does NOT mean we won’t be advancing the plot. Filler chapters will be saved for the event story/other story I will be posting next (this) year. This story will continue to develop relationships, plot, and change things as we go… Just maybe a little slower than usual. But everything is important, so please keep that in mind as you enjoy!
> 
> —

—

Yuu considered herself a rather easy-going human. At least she didn’t involve herself in her surroundings enough to lose her temper often. Perhaps it was an inheritance from her father, though she didn’t lack interest in the societal world as completely as he did.

The feeling of ‘anger’ was still new in her limited arsenal of emotion, and she’d only tasted it twice—once when Riddle drove himself into a corner, and once when Leona refused to acknowledge his value to others.

Still, it seemed as if Floyd Leech was excellent at testing her patience.

At first she tried to ignore him. After all, Yuu had shoved a stuffed mushroom into his mouth the last time they’d met—an effective attempt at bullying. While the moment had been glorious, she was expecting retribution.

He, on the other hand, had taken one look at her and knocked her roughly into the wall. “Oi. What happened to you?”

She stifled a grunt of pain as her bruised shoulder bounced against the concrete. “…Don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

“Huh?” Up close, Floyd’s mismatched eyes glowed momentarily against his turquoise hair. He revealed his triangular teeth in a sneer. “You come back after playin’ hooky for a week and still wear that attitude around? Do you even know how much trouble you caused Azul?”

“Yeah, since I came from talking to him,” Yuu said shortly. “And I’ve got a job to do so I don’t keep inconveniencing Ashengrotto-senpai, so if you could, you know, step aside.”

Still, by some stroke of terrible luck, Floyd had been assigned with her to the hall that afternoon. Whether it was because she pissed him off _that much_ or because he was in a foul mood that day, the taller of the Leech twins was eager to pick a quarrel with her. By now, Yuu was used to avoiding his unfairly long legs stuck out to trip her, and despite his seeming immature attitude, Floyd wasn’t one to get in the way of work. So she continued to try and ignore him.

Things came to a head that evening, after the dinner rush had passed.

Yuu had noticed long ago that the staff and customers in Mostro Lounge, regardless of dorm, tended to hold the Leech siblings at bay. They were certainly afraid—and with good reason—but everyone could also see the strength that Jade and Floyd carried with them so easily, in their bearing, in their attitude. There was an element of awe, of admiration hiding behind that fear. NRC’s students did not lack in ambition for power, power that these twins possessed so visibly.

Nevertheless, they were wary enough to make sure they were far away from Floyd even as he served food with easy poise. One of the Savanaclaw students who’d come to eat the night’s halibut special waved her over under the pretext of getting water and asked her in a low voice how the hell she managed to deal with that ‘scary moody guy’.

“He changes his attitude at the drop of a hat, Yuu-chan!” the Savanaclaw student hissed. “No one can tell what he’s thinking. This is advice man-to-man, kid, you should probably look for a new job.”

Since Floyd was usually in a bad mood around her, Yuu had not been exposed to the brunt of his mood swings. Still, as a whole, working at Mostro Lounge was manageable enough.

“Don’t worry,” she grinned, refilling his glass. “It’s not so bad here.”

“Bucchi told me there’s nothing we should trust less than Yuu-chan’s ‘don’t worry’,” he said flatly, not convinced. “Plus, I saw him nearly trip you a while ago. We can vouch for you to leave if you’re feeling pressured to stay…”

“Dude, please don’t,” Yuu said hastily. “I need a source of income.”

“But—”

“He~y,” Floyd created a shadow over her head as he bent over to peer down at them. The smile he wore was loose, which meant that he was comparatively calm right now. “Employees shouldn’t be talking uselessly with the customer. Move it, Koebi-chan.”

Yuu hid a roll of her eyes, since he was technically correct. “Yessir.”

“Hey,” yelped the student as she was tugged backwards. “Leech! Stop manhandling Yuu-chan! He’s still injured!”

Floyd’s voice dropped an octave without warning. “ _Hah_?”

“It’s fine, _really_ ,” Yuu shook her head frantically at the Savanclaw student. “I’m fine. So please enjoy your meal, customer.”

“Who the hell is this guy?” Floyd pushed her aside, bending over the table to squint at him. His smile tightened. “He your friend or something? Wha~t, you want to get strangled too?”

His opponent swallowed, unable to mask his palpable unease, as the air thickened with pressure.

“Hey,” Yuu tugged Floyd back by his coat. “You said before that Mostro Lounge is a place for gentlemen, right? He’s a paying customer. I thought fighting wasn’t allowed here.”

“No~, but self-defence is okay,” Floyd’s grin twisted upwards crazily. “I mean, I did just get insulted.”

So he’d been listening the whole time. Yuu refrained from telling him that he had a terrible personality and that insults were not grounds for physical retaliation.

The Savanaclaw student wasn’t so prudent. “You’re insane!” he scrambled out of his seat and backed away a few steps. “As if I’m eating in a place like this again.”

“Wait a sec,” Yuu started.

“Ah~ customer, your bill,” Floyd said lazily, dragging her backwards as she tried to stop him.

“Who the hell would pay for the service I got!” he blustered.

Yuu stopped moving and palmed her face.

“Yuu-chan, let’s get outta here,” the Savanaclaw student said in a hurry. “Quick, before he—”

“A _ha_ ,” Floyd emitted, letting her go, “Customers who don’t pay can get strangled, is what Azul said.”

“Strangler-senpai, hold on,” Yuu caught hold of his hand as it curled into a fist, “he’s just confused right now, we can talk this—”

“C’mon, Yuu-chan!” the Savanaclaw student reached forward and yanked her towards him frantically.

“You _moron_!” Yuu couldn’t hold it back.

Clearly, he had not been expecting her to respond with an insult. “Wha—!?”

Floyd’s laugh was absolutely gleeful as he swung his fist forwards.

—

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN | The Essence of Humanity.**

—

“So you punched him _back_?” Azul said in disbelief.

Yuu, slumped on the couch beside Floyd in the VIP room, didn’t dare to open her mouth. Not that she could talk right now, as the Merman beside her had crushed her voice-box a second time. Swallowing was painful, let alone producing noise.

Azul didn’t need a confirmation. He turned to Floyd, jaw tight. “I thought I said _not_ to cause trouble in the hall.”

“The customer stopped being a customer when he refused to pay,” Floyd said belligerently, refusing to look in Azul’s direction. Suit jacket abandoned with the fedora over the back of their couch, he looked rather rumpled in his white (now red-stained) dress shirt.

“What the _hell_ ,” Azul took a deep breath to control his voice, “ _Ahem._ What does that have to do with further damaging Yuu-san? Surely _he_ wasn’t a paying customer.”

It was highly unusual that his polite speech had faltered. Usually, Yuu would have cared more, but right now she wasn’t in the best of moods. Arms painfully crossed over her stomach for protection, she glared at the seawater table casting wavering light against the bottom of Azul’s lenses and maintained her silence.

“Not like Koebi-chan could afford anything on the menu,” Floyd said spitefully.

Yuu, who was still smarting from the one-sided beatdown, jabbed him in the side.

“The two of you, _stop_ ,” Azul snapped as Floyd rounded on her. “You’re lucky the hall was mostly empty at this point, because you would’ve scared off all of the customers with your crazy laughing.”

“You can’t hear anything from in here.”

“I dismissed the soundproofing spell for a while,” Azul said dismissively. “Since I didn’t trust Yuu-san to make it through tonight alive. Especially with you on the roster.”

Yuu raised an eyebrow at Azul. He’d thrown her beside Floyd tonight on purpose?

“Obviously I didn’t expect _this_ ,” he waved at them, “to happen. Whose blood is that all over the collar of Floyd’s dress shirt?”

Yuu pointed at the second-year sitting beside her.

“Koebi-chan headbutted me in the nose,” Floyd said rather cheerfully, voice more nasal than usual. “I got him back in the cheek, though.”

“Why would you aim for a spot anyone could _see_ ,” Azul groaned. “It’ll look like I’m the one bullying him. And your nose looks horrible.”

“You’ve got bottles of that recovery potion just lying around, though,” Floyd said carelessly. “Just shove one down his throat.”

“Those take a long time to make,” Azul snapped before he sighed and massaged his brow. “You too, Yuu-san. I’ve never seen someone as obviously disadvantaged as you start a fight with Floyd, of all people. Surely you knew you couldn’t win.”

 _He pissed me off_ , Yuu mouthed without changing her expression.

“And you decide you should _headbutt_ him?”

It had been worth it to see the utterly dumbstruck shock Floyd wore slack on his face as blood dripped from his bruising nose. Even though she was a lot more injured than he was, Yuu felt the resulting pain was par for the course.

Plus, she’d gotten at least one good hit on him. Perhaps her time in Savanaclaw was bringing out the hidden physical ability Yuu never knew she had.

Okay, that might have been taking it a bit far.

“Man, I rea~lly don’t like Koebi-chan,” Floyd told Azul, voice dragging. “Plus you’re all angry now. What a pain in the ass.”

“I hope you know that broken table is coming out of your wages,” Azul ignored him.

“It’s been an _hour_ we’ve been trapped in here,” he whined, ignoring Azul back. “I’m tired of this already. Don’t wanna get lectured anymore.”

“Ah! Floyd, stop right there!”

“Nope. I don’t wanna talk to Azul when he’s pissed.” Floyd dragged himself off the chair and lifted one hand in a careless wave. “See ya. And that pistol shrimp better be outta here by the time I get back.”

Azul clicked his tongue in a startling display of impoliteness, but made no further effort to hold his employee back. Floyd slouched out of the VIP Room with a boneless sort of grace Yuu could never imitate. The hallway was silent and dark as he opened the door and slammed it shut.

Come to think of it, Azul had said something about the VIP Room’s soundproofing being due to a spell. The Muffling Charm was good at lowering the threshold of sound, but Yuu had never heard of a spell that could eliminate outside noise entirely. She wondered how it worked—magic in this world was so different from the magic in hers…

 _Leona-senpai should know_ , Yuu remembered. After all, Leona had been able to answer every question she’d asked about magic in this world. Riddle was another option, but after hearing that Heartslabyul’s Dorm Head didn’t hold the highest opinion of students from Octavinelle, she had some scruples about asking him outright.

Trey…had eroded some of her confidence in him the last few times he’d refused to diffuse a fight. He’d sunk down a couple of spaces on her list of ‘people to ask’. Plus, she _had_ sort of made him angry… Still, perhaps she could leave Heartslabyul’s vice Dorm Head as a last resort.

Azul crossed his legs, drawing her attention back to him. He was giving her an exasperated look. “…This is the first time I’ve seen someone look so carefree after going through a fight with Floyd. Does your human brain have any crevices at all?”

“Probably.” Yuu cleared her throat several times and managed to croak out the word feebly. She indicated the door. “Is it okay for you to let him go like that?”

“When Floyd gets into a mood, it’s useless to try and reason with him,” Azul explained. “…It’s been a while since I heard him yell at someone like that. Usually he just strang…excuse me, deals with his opponents and leaves. For now, it’s best to give him some space.”

“Yeah, he _really_ doesn’t like me,” Yuu gritted out belligerently, “and the feeling is mutual.”

“Making up with your co-workers quickly is the key to a healthy work environment,” Azul recited like a business consultant.

Yuu wrinkled her nose in reaction. “Like hell I’m gonna make up with someone with the emotional capacity of a Flobberworm,” she retorted childishly.

“Flobberworm?” Azul blinked.

“Anyway, I would apologise for indirectly causing damage to the Lounge,” Yuu’s voice broke periodically as she strained the words out, “but since it was your responsibility for putting him in the same room as him, Ashengrotto-senpai…”

“Wait, stop talking for a second, please. Your voice sounds like that of a sick duck,” Azul put up a hand to stop her. Today, his Magical Pen was nowhere to be seen; instead, he picked up the silver-tipped black staff lying against the arm of his couch and twirled it once.

Yuu caught the corked glass bottle shaped like a shell as it soared above her head. “And this is?”

“For all-purpose recovery,” Azul gave her a sinister smile. “Though of course, I wouldn’t give it to you for free.”

Before Yuu could ask him what he was about to extort out of her, two sharp knocks against the door Floyd had slammed drew their attention. A moment later, Jade pushed it open noiselessly, the curve of his smile wider than usual. As usual, he was dressed impeccably in suit, stole and hat, posture pin straight.

He caught sight of her and the smile widened further. “Good _evening_ , Mister Directing Student. I see you’re in quite a wonderful state. Do you have any idea why my brother just left a dent in the wall as he stormed past me, smelling like blood?”

“What? That damn…” Azul coughed. “…Which wall was it? Is it repairable by magic?”

“Please don’t worry, Azul,” Jade lowered his head briefly, “I’ve already taken care of the repairs. It has been a few months since I saw Floyd this bothered, though…”

“Says the guy who pissed him that bad last time,” Azul muttered. “…How is the hall?”

“Managed. By now, the people who gather at this time on Thursday evening should be used to a little excitement,” Jade smiled.

 _A little excitement?_ Yuu mouthed at the politer Leech twin incredulously. Granted, she was relieved that he didn’t seem to hold it against her that his brother was injured—but instead he looked excited, like the time he’d brought two plates of stuffed mushrooms into the VIP Room.

Azul was of a similar opinion. “Did you _hear_ him?” His ever-calm voice frayed at the edges. “He threatened to drag Yuu-san through the glass wall into the ocean and nearly went through with it!”

“Floyd said that Mister Directing Student was weak enough to die immediately _when_ dragged into the ocean,” Jade corrected smoothly. “and that he belonged at the bottom of the food chain. Not that he would personally murder him.”

“He threw Yuu-san through a table!”

“That table was old,” Jade frowned thoughtfully. “And I think Floyd was trying to prove a point.”

Azul gave Jade a flat glance as the latter made his way over to Floyd’s recently vacated spot and took a seat. “You were watching the whole time and you didn’t stop them?”

“ _Fu fu_. Why would I spoil the fun like that?” Jade lifted a fist to his mouth pleasantly. “Besides, Floyd isn’t stupid enough to start a full-out brawl in the middle of the floor.”

Yuu wasn’t so sure. At the beginning, when she’d tackled the Savanaclaw student aside of Floyd’s punch, he’d looked mostly annoyed. But around the time when Yuu had struggled out of the remains of the table and clawed his arm, his eyes no longer held restraint. Those were the same eyes as an injured unicorn that had put half the fourth-year class in the hospital wing last year. It sought blood with a single-minded intensity.

When she looked up, Jade was staring down at her with his signature polite smile. “Are you all right, Mister Directing Student?” he asked perfunctorily.

Yuu shrugged at Jade, clearing her throat. “More or less.”

“…I see.” He peered uncomfortably close into her face—the bruising cheek, the scratched corner of her mouth. Jade met her eyes with the ones so similar to his brother’s and drew his brows together in delight. “It _is_ quite unusual for a human to act this way…no wonder Floyd is so interested in you.”

“ _Interested_!?” Yuu’s voice broke painfully in the middle of her squawk. “Senpai, he frick—er, he hates my guts.”

“Perhaps you are not aware,” Jade sounded amused, “but the way humans, Therianthropes, Mermen, and Fey behave can be worlds apart in the Twisted Wonderland.”

“So? He’s _said_ that he hates me.”

“Ah, Mister Directing Student,” Jade shook his head in mock pity. “You do not understand at all. It would be best to learn just how deep our differences reach before you leap to conclusions. Humans and non-humans stare at each other from across a steep chasm.”

There was a strange weight behind his words. Yuu opened her mouth to ask more.

“…Even if you’re from a different world, I still find it difficult to believe that there is a living human who’d jump back up at Floyd after being thrown through a table,” Azul interrupted, stalling Jade with a glance.

“You were just watching too, weren’t you,” Yuu gave him a flat look.

Azul smiled coldly at her. “You owe me thrice now, Yuu-san. Once for the absence from your shift without permission, once for tonight’s incident, and one for that phial you hold in your lap. Are you sure you should be talking to your debtor like that?”

“Now, now,” Jade said mildly, “there are terms for emergencies within the contract, and Mister Directing Student was in an…emergency the day of his shift. Were you not?”

Yuu wondered if this guy might be as good at information gathering as Cater. She didn’t like the knowing look in his eye. “…It still doesn’t excuse my absence,” she said stiffly.

“Oh my. How serious of you.”

“Ashengrotto-senpai,” Yuu turned to Azul, deeming further conversation with the politely chuckling Jade useless. “Are you going to fire me?”

He blinked behind his glasses, seawater light from the table brightening the lenses into mirrors briefly. “…And why would you just _ask_ me like that?”

“I’m not in the best of moods right now,” Yuu rubbed at her bruising back. “Thanks to your friend.”

“Friend?” Azul said blankly. “…Floyd is my employee.”

Yuu blinked back. “And friend. Right?”

The two of them gave each other confused looks.

“Anyway,” Azul said after a moment, “…It’s too early for me to let you go quite yet, Yuu-san. I still must have you pay back the day of work you missed.”

“So…” This guy sure liked to drag things on.

“So,” Azul spread his hands wide from beneath his lavender trench coat, “Prepare yourself. After you recover from your injuries, I will collect my debts in full.”

“Azul is so mischievous,” Jade commented, lifting a fist to his mouth in a polite gesture.

Yuu glanced between the two laughing Mermen. She was starting to get a headache.

Octavinelle’s Dorm Head just couldn’t say things straight, but Yuu guessed this meant she wasn’t fired yet. Though she might be working without pay for the foreseeable future, it beat having no job at all. As relief lifted her shoulders, the pain from her earlier brawl came back to hit her full force between the shoulders. The adrenaline was wearing off.

Azul noticed the way her face tightened. “Hurry up and drink the potion. Your voice sounds appalling.”

“Indeed, it is rather tough on the ear,” Jade agreed. “Mermen are usually quite picky about the way voices behave.”

She obliged them, popped the cork, and tipped the foul-tasting contents of the bottle down her throat. There was no room for argument. Unlike in Savanclaw, she was still in enemy territory here. No one was going to help her, and the smiles Azul and Jade wore might as well have been masks.

Even tonight—both of them had watched and listened while Floyd took out his ire on her with little more than disdain and humour. The coldness in their eyes was…

Humans and non-humans, Jade had said.

Yuu recalled the horrified expression on Riddle’s face when she mentioned her part-time job here, Trey’s cautious sidestepping, Cater’s uncontrollable laughter.

She was starting to agree with them. Octavinelle might be more trouble than it was worth.

—

“Professor,” Yuu started hesitantly the next morning, “if I wanted to research the difference in behaviour between species—like humans and Therianthropes and Mermen—where should I start?”

Crewel, who was busy applying a cooling paste to her cracked skin, paused briefly. “…Sometimes I forget you’re a self-proclaimed world traveller.”

“No one believes me,” Yuu sighed tiredly. “Yes, Professor, I am a self-proclaimed world traveller who does not understand anything about this school.”

“It’s not that you’re not trustworthy,” Crewel pushed her gently in the forehead with his knuckles, “it’s that your adaptability in this environment has been so complete that even I fall into the illusion that you’re just a non-magical person from this world.”

“Deuce said that too, that I’m adaptable,” Yuu recalled. She’d never thought about it.

“That dachshund’s got good instincts,” Crewel nodded. “And? What are you researching behaviour patterns for? Is Kingscholar misbehaving again?”

“Huh?” Yuu’s brain worked slowly in the mornings. “…Oh, no, not Leona-senpai. Though maybe I’ll ask him about it later. I’m just having trouble wrapping my mind around all the different species that attend this school. Back in my world, I’d only ever gone to school with humans before.”

Sure, Yuu loved Care of Magical Creatures, but there was a difference between spending time with a Hippogriff and spending time with Floyd Leech. It felt somehow unfair to treat Mermen and Therianthropes like anything other than human—until she saw that wildness to their gaze. Aardvark before he punched her. Ruggie staring at her neck when he’d kidnapped her, pupils dilating. Floyd’s crazy laughter when she’d drawn his blood.

Human and non-human.

Yuu’s head hurt.

Crewel regarded her thoughtfully. “You don’t have to think that deeply about it,” he suggested. “There are plenty of people in this world who ignore the differences between species. Or give up on understanding. And the non-magical people already live in a space separate from the way we do.”

“Professor,” Yuu gave him a dry look. “The only thing that’s been keeping me going in this world is my curiosity about it, so do humour me please. And…”

_You do not understand at all._

_It would be best to learn just how deep our differences reach before you leap to conclusions. Humans and non-humans stare at each other from across a steep chasm._

Jade’s words would not leave her mind.

Yuu watched new bandages circle around her limbs, hiding the broken skin from view. Her voice was stronger than she’d expected when she blurted out, “And I want to _know_ what makes them not human.”

Crewel, who was cleansing his hands in a bowl of water, raised both elegantly trimmed brows at her. “…Hmm.”

It was the least angry he’d looked in front of her. Usually, the science professor was eager to shout and call her _bad boy!_ In front of others and _bad girl!_ When students weren’t present. A weight of stress always stretched his shoulders taut when she was in his line of vision. Yuu had the distinct impression that Crewel wasn’t fond of her, but being a good teacher, he never made it apparent.

Now he sighed, pulled on his scarlet gloves, and ran a critical glance from the tip of her head to her Vargas-given shoes. “It seems that the Headmaster has better judgment of students than I do,” he murmured.

“What?”

“Listen, little puppy.” Crewel tapped his crop on the table as he frowned in her direction. “You can study all you want about tendencies of behaviour for whatever species you fancy. But keep in mind the foundation of us all remains the same. Everyone ‘here’ is a giant ball of selfish desires, and you’re never going to be able to understand another person the same way you understand yourself. Even trying is useless.”

Yuu gaped at him. “…Professor, you’re quite pessimistic.”

“If you’d said something like wanting to know people better for a selfless reason, I wouldn’t be telling you this,” Crewel ignored her. “But I know that look in your eye. Here’s a list of books you can start with. Don’t get yourself in over your head.”

She watched a feathered pen lift off his desk and scribble down several titles on a notepad in neat lettering before Crewel plucked the page off its bindings and handed it to her. “Professor, what do you mean by—”

“Think about it for yourself,” Crewel was done with her, already turning away. “Now go empty this bowl at the bench sink and scamper off to homeroom. Wouldn’t want to be late while you’re still in Professor Trein’s bad graces.”

Yuu stuffed the paper in her uniform pocket and ran to do his bidding. The foundation of everyone was the same, he’d said, human or not. But Jade clearly did not believe so.

The more she pondered the topic, the less clear the answer was looking to be. Was there even a solution?

—

Practical magic lessons in the morning were beginning to heat up as students caught the feel of casting. Yuu had been surprised to see how clumsy the rest of the first years had been on their first day—Ace, Deuce, and even Grim outstripped them by leagues. If these kids had been thrown in the Mines on Mount Dwarf with the monsters and Ghosts, they’d be done for in a second.

Still, Night Raven College wasn’t famous for no reason. By the end of the first week of practical lessons, the beams of light flying across the classroom were much more concentrated and precise. In lieu of spells, Yuu fired question after question at Trein, perched on his podium for better visual access, as Lucius slinked through the partnered students and tripped one here and there. He seemed to have a special preference for disturbing Grim just as her partner prepared to spit out a fireball.

Spell performance in this world depended on _imagination_ —of which Yuu had close to none. Still, the techniques and theory taught behind spellwork were just as complicated as in Hogwarts. Trein explained with his ever-present frown that the presence of magic within a human being granted them various biological advantages, like wizards and witches possessed within her world. The stalling of aging was the same in both worlds, especially in cases of Therianthropes or Mermen, who tended to live longer in the first place. Fairies, apparently, outstripped the rest of them by leagues in lifespan.

Yuu remembered Lilia Vanrouge. She wondered how old he was, then decided it was best not to go in that direction. The student (temporarily named Tsuno-tarou) who’d appeared by Ramshackle a couple of weeks ago was from Diasomnia, too; maybe she’d ask him next time. He was, although kind of strange, friendly and receptive enough to her questioning.

In between barks of reprimand, Trein lectured her on the dangers of being ‘non-magical’ in a magical school. He and Vargas should still be unaware of her different world status, as Crowley had forwent explaining and Crewel didn’t believe her—still, being non-magical here was a big deal in itself.

As Jamil had told her a while ago, other biological differences were apparent, though not well-studied, in those possessing magical power—and this marked them as different from the rest. Magicians didn’t have a term like ‘muggle’ in Twisted Wonderland (which Yuu privately thought was a good thing, since the term felt rather pejorative to her), but the discrimination still existed.

Yuu had been exposed to plenty of bigotry during her time at Hogwarts, as well as her time in primary school in muggle England. People who refused to accept the ‘different’ were everywhere, especially in adolescents, and it didn’t come as much of a surprise to her that she was public enemy number one as a non-magical student at a famous magical school. Deuce himself had harassed non-magical people when he was in middle school.

She was used to viewing how ugly humans were, clinically, from an observer’s vantage point.

Trein’s timely warnings were soaked up by her eagerly. Specifically, he told her that with no magical resistance, some spells would be doubly or triply effective on her person. Everyone bled the same, burned the same when targeted with physically damaging magic, but there was an entirely separate class of magic dealing with the mind and heart.

“Unique Magics commonly fall into this category,” Trein lifted a hand, fending off a stray beam of light with a perfectly aimed defensive spell. “There are those that will not affect you: for example, Mister Rosehearts’ Unique Magic only involves those possessing magical power.”

A proud Unique Magic, Yuu thought, just like the proud Riddle. He wasn’t even putting non-magical people on his radar.

“However, there are many students whose Unique Magics are directly targeted on the psyche,” Trein continued. Lucius jumped back up onto the podium desk where Yuu was sitting, her feet dangling off the edge. He squinted up at her and put a paw on her thigh.

“Psyche?” Yuu remained still as Lucius tested his grip on her uniform pant leg.

“For example, ones dealing with emotions such as anxiety, fear, loathing.” Trein gave her an unreadable glance. “Memory. Restraint. Control of the body and mind. All of these exist, perhaps even within this school building.”

Yuu put both hands up beside her head carefully as Lucius climbed onto her lap, nose twitching at her clothing. She’d heard this before, in the school kitchens with Jamil and Kalim. But the spells Trein was talking about sounded much more like the Imperius—an Unforgiveable spell.

“…Isn’t mind control against the law?” she tried.

Lucius sat down and emitted, “ _Oaa._ ”

Even Yuu could understand ‘no’ by now. “What about the invasion of human rights and privacy?”

Trein sighed. “…I’d heard from Professor Crewel, but you truly act on a different scale of common sense, Mister Yuu. There are no laws that are going to protect your privacy or…‘rights’ in any country here. You must have lived in quite a secluded area before being chosen by the Mirror.”

 _I came from a world where your standards don’t exist_ , Yuu thought. Lucius eyed her suspiciously. As expected, neither Crewel nor Crowley had told him about her origins yet. Being mistaken for a country bumpkin was to her advantage, so she didn't correct him.

Once she had thought the Ministry of Magic was backwards. But hearing Trein talk made Yuu suddenly appreciate the rules and regulations that guaranteed a measure of safety in Wizarding Britain.

A swell of relief swept across her—it was a good thing she hadn’t talked about her magic openly, that she’d hidden any evidence of it save for around Riddle and Leona. If anyone had gained knowledge of the Unforgiveables, she might unwittingly give someone the keys to mass damage in this world.

But then, if Unique Magics like Ruggie Bucchi’s existed here unchecked—if he hadn’t been expelled for using _Laugh with Me_ on another student—the answer had been clear from the start.

This world was nowhere near as safe as hers.

“You,” Trein eyed her sternly, “are the most vulnerable person in this entire school to magics like those. Without any magic resistance, proper education, or long periods of time spent around such things, you must be careful not to end up in a situation where such magics are used on you. An ill-meaning student can cause unlimited harm.”

She wondered how her own magic interacted with this—but it was probably stupid to test it out just in case there was memory-erasing magic in this world. Yuu had the sneaking suspicion that her magic did absolutely nothing against non-physical spells. Trey’s Doodle Suit, Ruggie’s Laugh with Me both worked so easily on her that Trein’s words made sense.

It didn’t matter to her if she were to fall victim to such a spell. But she knew that Riddle would turn scarlet with anger if he caught her ‘disregarding her safety’ again. And Yuu had messed with this world enough already, was alien enough already—if somehow her magic was to fall into the hands of another, it would unravel the strings of the universe beyond return.

“I’ll be careful,” Yuu said weakly, hoping she hadn’t already been mind-controlled without her knowing. On her lap, Lucius turned in a circle and nestled into her stomach.

“Be sure to do so.” Trein nodded once, ever composed. “If you end up in the infirmary another time, Professor Crewel and the Headmaster may truly lose their temper.”

—

Afternoon class in the Alchemy building was with Class B, though it was hard to tell the faces apart in the sea of white lab coats and goggles. Ace and Deuce immediately chose each other as cauldron buddies, leaving Yuu to glance around looking for a partner. She didn’t blame them—Grim, perched on her shoulder, caused accidents two out of three times he was entrusted with a potion—but since they counted as one student, Crewel expected them to work together with someone else.

Worming through the gaps in students milling around before the bell rang, Yuu was tripped by someone sneering. She fell face-first into another white lab coat. “Oof!”

“…Watch where you’re going,” a familiar bass rumbled from the fabric.

“Hey!” Grim emitted angrily, “that moron tripped us!”

“Sorry,” Yuu pushed herself upright, rubbing her sore nose as she grinned sheepishly upwards. “Jack, you were in Class B?”

No wonder he had said he’d see her later. Jack must have been aware of the joined classes.

“Yuu?” Jack blinked before glaring over her head at the person who’d tripped her. “…Stop wandering around carelessly. You’re gonna get knocked headfirst into a cauldron.”

“I’m not that small!” Yuu protested. “Jack, do you have a partner yet? The bell’s going to ring soon and I can’t find anyone.”

“I don’t hang out with other people,” Jack grunted.

“So you don’t have a partner,” Grim squinted.

“Professor Crewel is scary about this kind of stuff, so let’s team up?” Yuu looked hopefully up at him. “Please. I’m still in trouble since I missed two weeks of class. If I don’t find a partner on time, he’s going to hit me with his crop.”

Jack didn’t say anything, but he followed behind when Yuu started looking for an empty cauldron. It was a lot easier to make her way through the crowd with him behind her—other students parted for _them_ , not the other way around.

“Ace told me Jack’s a _tsundere_ ,” Grim whispered in her ear. “Is he right?”

“He can probably hear you, you know,” Yuu said dryly. Ace might have a point, though, as he usually did. It was a pity he didn’t care to figure out phrasing that didn’t offend the other party.

Grim knew Jack better than she did, since they’d worked together on the plot to foil Leona—but perhaps because Yuu had flown together with Jack through Savanaclaw’s Magift pitch, perhaps because she’d sat atop his back as they duelled for their lives, perhaps because he felt easy to understand, Yuu sensed none of the unfamiliarity that usually accompanied partnering with a new person.

It was a little different from the natural feeling she got with Ace and Deuce, more different from the way Kalim lit up his surroundings with a smile. Yuu, who was used to being viewed with animosity by those from the Savanaclaw dorm (though that fence had long since been broken), realized that Jack was one of the few people in this school who didn’t display an openly repulsed attitude on sight of her.

“What?” Jack grumbled as Yuu peered up at him.

“Jack,” Yuu blinked, “you don’t hate me?”

Grim dropped the herbs Crewel was handing out on the lab bench next to them. “Huh? Why would he hate you?”

“…I always look like this.” The line between Jack’s brow deepened.

“No, not your face,” Yuu corrected hastily. “It’s just…your dorm-mates weren’t too fond of me before.”

“It’s none of my business whether you can use magic or not,” Jack fished Grim away from the mouth of the cauldron as Yuu surreptitiously lit the fire beneath it with a hissed _Incendio_. “If you were some idiot who walked around doing stuff for other people out of some stupid misguided sense of ‘righteousness’, maybe I’d stay away from you, but you’re too weak…and too clever to pull hero moves like that.”

“What’re you talking about?” Grim dangled from his hand and crossed his arms unhappily. “My henchman did most of the grunt work in snapping Riddle _and_ Leona—”

“Grim,” Yuu hissed. Anyone could hear him.

“…That wasn’t out of some stupid generosity, though.” Jack put Grim on the lab bench and untied the bundle of herbs as Yuu found the wooden ladle to stir the cauldron. “You stay still, Grim. Watch us cut the ingredients first before you incinerate them.”

“ _Funaaa_. I know how to do it already!”

Jack glanced at her.

“He doesn’t,” Yuu answered with a grin.

According to Jack, the kinds of people that pissed him off were ones like Leona—those in possession of unbelievable talent that refused to use it due to indolence. Yuu considered telling him that her hiding her use of magic was tantamount to the same thing, but to Jack, it wasn’t.

“You’re not lazy,” he’d said matter-of-factly as he expertly diced the day’s ingredients with a scalpel. “And you don’t hide your abilities because you don’t want to use them. I’d lose all respect for you if you’d revealed your…secrets like a fool. In any case, talking with Ace and Deuce made me realise how different you are from Leona-senpai.”

“Plus,” Grim tossed the finished ingredients into the bubbling cauldron, “Yuu always ends up breaking whatever silence he tries to hold whenever someone gets in trouble here.”

Jack squinted behind his goggles. “…Out of the goodness of his heart?”

“Nah.” Grim dusted off his paws. “Because he likes us too much. Plus, he’s got some issues with seeing people in pain.”

“I do?” Yuu changed the direction of her stirring as the contents of the cauldron thickened and turned opaque.

“Protecting his pride, huh? Or trauma.” Jack nodded. “…As expected, Yuu, you’re a pretty understandable guy.”

She wasn’t sure what conclusion he’d reached, or why Grim was nodding along as if he understood. Jack himself seemed quite satisfied with her and even told her that for a tiny mammal, she was unexpectedly ferocious. “If you want to improve your terrible physical abilities, you should start exerting effort now,” he advised her. “I wouldn’t have become as strong as I am without daily practice.”

Like Azul and Riddle, Jack was another student who didn’t spare a scrap of effort. Resultantly, he was, in a way, as arrogant as the rest of them—believing only in power as the reigning quality of success. He _still_ held a grudge against Leona for not going all-out in his past couple years of Magift matches, not because he thought it unfair, but because Jack himself didn’t get a chance to go all-out against him last week.

Grim wrinkled his nose. “This guy’s pretty troublesome.”

Jack yanked him back once again before he could throw the ground magic stone powder into the cauldron. “Stop that, you moron, that goes in after twenty-three more stirs.”

Yuu had noticed after her last disastrous shift at Mostro Lounge that she had a soft spot for hard workers. By all means she should have despised Azul who used her without mercy, and Riddle wasn’t exactly as popular as he was feared. But she thought they were admirable just like Jack was.

The Savanaclaw first-year was, if one put aside his overly serious nature, intelligent and diligent. Yuu herself would never be able to force herself to wake up at five AM every morning, let alone go running daily. Jack earned high marks in classes, studied like it was natural, and didn’t see the need to screw around with rules like Ace and Deuce. Yuu had probably been influenced by her two friends (plus Grim) more than she’d expected, because she was surprised when Crewel nodded at both of them in praise without yelling at Grim, rapping Ace across the knuckles with his crop, or threatening detention.

“Jack, you’re a pretty cool guy,” Yuu grinned as he prevented Grim from tipping headfirst into the smoking cauldron. She collected samples of their assignment in phials to hand in.

Jack extinguished the fire with a wave of his Pen and scowled at her, tail standing up straight. “What’s with you all of a sudden?”

“Get used to it,” Grim wheezed from his grip. “One stupid thing about my stupid henchman is that he goes around praising people for no reason.”

“Why are you so mean to me?” Yuu squinted at Grim.

“Figure it out for yourself!” Grim puffed out his cheeks. “You no-social-skills moron!”

Ace and Deuce regrouped with them, both slightly singed, at the end of class. Under his breath, the former told her, suppressing a snicker, that Yuu and Jack had such a height difference between them that it looked like he was her guardian or something.

“Guard dog?” Deuce said thoughtfully.

The hearing of wolf Therianthropes was second only to their sense of smell. Jack growled at Deuce, “I’m not a dog. I’m a wolf!”

“ _That’s_ the part he’s not okay with?” muttered Ace.

Grim’s mood fouled as he jumped into Yuu’s arms. “I hate it when my henchman goes around accidentally training people like it’s nothing.”

“What the heck are you even talking about,” Yuu deadpanned.

“C’mon,” Ace said with good humour as they shed their lab coats. “Sure, Yuu might be an animal tamer or whatever, but how bad can it get? It’s not like he’s gonna end up taming the whole school.”

“Seriously, what are they talking about?” Yuu asked Deuce, who shrugged and straightened her hair from where the band of her goggles had messed it up.

“I’ll meet you back in my room after practice,” he grinned at her. “You promised to make me that ‘omurice’ again, Yuu. Don’t forget.”

—

After the final bell, Yuu tried with little success in breaking Grim out of his sulk as she strolled slowly down the hallway. Ace and Deuce had raced for the field and their respective clubs as soon as the final class let out, though the latter impressed upon her once again how much he was looking forward to omurice for dinner. Deuce was a sucker for food with eggs in it.

Yuu had invited Jack over, but he shook his head and said something about being on a macro diet to build muscle, meaning he would destroy her paycheque in one meal if he tried. Jack also told her several times through their afternoon classes to watch out for more idiots that would trip her, to work out so she didn’t get underestimated, and to stop attracting trouble before he reluctantly put a large hand on her head heavily and finally followed in Deuce’s footsteps.

“Weird guy,” Yuu commented, straightening her hair.

“I fricking _hate_ Savanaclaw,” Grim complained, glaring in the direction of Jack’s tail.

Indeed, Grim’s foul moods seemed heavily related with the presence of a student from that dorm. Come to think of it, Leona had mentioned a barbeque or something next week. Would Grim’s love of food win out, or was he so against Savanaclaw that he wasn’t going to come with her? By then, surely she would have been released from her ‘sentence’…though to Yuu, living in Heartslabyul was nothing short of wonderful.

She grinned to herself in remembrance. The look on Cater’s face when she’d finally made them eat food bought with her hard-earned money was worth it all. She’d even asked Riddle what the cheerful third year liked and gotten a bottle of sriracha ahead of time. Maybe she should add some spicy chicken tonight? But Riddle didn’t look like he was very strong with spicy food…But Cater always got Trey to change the flavours of his food when he didn’t like it…

Maybe she’d make his separate.

“One tuna can,” Yuu bargained.

“Two,” Grim growled. “And not the cheap kind, I want the 300 Madol kind that Sam only has in stock sometimes.”

“Can you at least tell me why you’re angry?” she cajoled him, rubbing her cheek against his ear in a gesture she’d noticed Leona do to his pillow.

Grim started to say something—Yuu’s vision turned crazily, hallway spinning around her, and then she was blinking in the entranceway of an empty classroom as Kalim’s concerned face filled her vision.

“Yuu!” he cried. “You’re okay!”

“What the!?” Grim dug his claws painfully into her uniform as he fell from around her shoulder and dangled mid-air. “Oi! Give a Monster some warning!”

“Oh? And the cat’s with you today, too.” Kalim drew back to arm’s length and released the arm he’d taken to pull her with him. “Yuu! I was so worried! Where’d you disappear off to three weeks ago!? I haven’t seen you in _forever_!”

“ _Funaa!?_ What’s with this guy!?” Grim fell to the ground and backed away. “I’m not a cat!”

“Kalim,” Jamil said sedately, appearing noiselessly in the doorway, “the Directing Student’s eyes are spinning. Give him some space.”

“Huh? Oh, sorry! Na ha ha! Don’t know my own strength, I guess.”

Yuu hopped up on a desk as Kalim collapsed easily behind it, Jamil taking his place by the Dorm Head’s left. “Senpai,” she greeted them sheepishly. “Um…sorry for disappearing back then.”

She had been, in retrospect, in quite a state that she’d seen them last. Now that the bandages were not around her ankle but her arms, and faced with Kalim’s carefree grin and Jamil’s assessing stare, Yuu realized that she should have at least told them she was okay.

Grim, climbing up beside her leg, was quiet as he watched the two Scarabia students. He didn’t make a move to complain further.

Kalim peered into her face. “What happened?” he asked her, scarlet eyes narrowed in concern. “Jamil said something about a big incident at the Magift tourney last Sunday. Something about the reason why he got injured?”

“I explained it to him already,” Jamil told her with a sigh.

“Oh, the person behind the whole ‘me falling down the stairs’ thing kidnapped me,” Yuu shrugged, “that’s all.”

Jamil stared at her.

Kalim stared at her. “That’s _all_?” he repeated dumbly. “…Being kidnapped is normal where you come from too?”

Too? “Not really. But it wasn’t really a big deal. I was just stuck in Savanaclaw for a couple weeks and then, umm…”

“You’ve heard the rumours, Kalim.” Jamil finished when she faltered. “Of the…”

“Right!” Kalim said loudly. “Rumours about the Overblot in the Savanaclaw pitch, right? But we’ve been hearing Overblot rumours since September. Don’t know if there’s any truth to them.”

Jamil blinked slowly in her direction. “…That’s how it is, Directing Student. I see you’re injured in a different place than last time. Care to share what happened Sunday?”

He was polite enough in his speech, calm enough in his demeanour. Yet when she met his charcoal grey eyes, for one sharp second Yuu was reminded of Jade Leech’s own smile when he’d mentioned the incident. The way he waited expectantly for her answer felt the same—surely, Jamil already knew.

Another information gatherer joined the ranks: Cater, Jade, and now Jamil. Why was Night Raven College full of scary people!? At least Leona wasn’t shy about showing how unfairly intelligent he was. Yuu frowned and didn’t say anything.

Jamil raised one brow at her. “…Under orders from the Headmaster to keep things under wraps?”

“Does it matter what happened?” Yuu asked him.

“Maybe a non-magical person like you doesn’t understand,” Jamil sighed, “but Overblots are incredibly rare. Little is known about them, and they're life-threatening to everyone involved. Being informed is the first step to protecting oneself against possible harm. Plus, this guy doesn’t watch out where he goes, so I’ve got to do it.”

He nudged Kalim, who was grinning. “Don’t worry, Yuu! We won’t tell anyone. Promise!”

“I’ll keep him quiet,” Jamil assured.

Yuu fretted. She understood his desire to stay out of trouble—it was a very Ravenclaw thing to ask about—but simultaneously, never wanted incriminating words against Leona or Riddle to come out of her mouth.

“You know…” Kalim scratched the hair hidden under the loops of cloth making up his turban, “to be honest, it’s not that important what happened, but those two Card Soldiers from Heartslabyul said you got into the infirmary again.”

“Card Soldiers?” Yuu repeated the unfamiliar term.

“Hmm? The four that swore loyalty to Heartslabyul’s Queen are the Card Soldiers, right?” Kalim blinked.

Yuu shrugged. Maybe she should start paying more attention to the way others referred to her friends. She’d heard the term ‘Cards’ from within the dorm, but this was all new.

“Anyway, Leona was in the infirmary too, and a while ago, Riddle…it’s not too hard to make the connection,” Kalim’s eyes sobered as he met her gaze squarely.

“And I don’t want to say this, but the information network within NRC is nothing to be scoffed at,” Jamil told her. “Most of the students are just keeping a tacit silence because it’s not to their benefit to blurt it out. Don’t get me wrong, Directing Student—I don’t need evidence, I just want confirmation. Lying to me will only confirm the truth.”

“…You have a wonderful personality, Jamil-senpai,” Yuu said weakly.

Jamil’s mouth curved upwards at the corners. “High praise.”

It was true enough that she owed them an explanation of why she’d disappeared from the infirmary after Kalim had threatened to tie her to the bed. Yuu nonverbally cast _Muffliato_ at the door and ran through a digest version of Leona’s executed plan as Grim watched beside her, unusually silent. She did her best to skip past the actual fight and the reveal of the Dorm Head’s Unique Magic.

Leona had not made peace with his _King’s Roar_ quite yet.

None of them asked any further, for which she was grateful—because they could have pushed. Jamil put a hand under his chin and sunk into thought while Kalim squinted at her.

“What about your back?” he asked her. “And your voice sounds a little funny too. Did you get that hurt?”

“?!” Yuu’s hand lifted towards her sore back, taken off guard. “How did you…?”

“ _Funa_?” Grim emitted for the first time since he’d entered the room. “Back?”

“Kalim, you noticed?” Jamil caught her shocked glance and shrugged. “Don’t worry. You probably weren’t obvious about it. We just tend to observe these things naturally.”

Even with the healing properties of Azul’s potion—and it was, indeed, incredibly effective—Yuu still bore the lingering aftereffects of her fight with Floyd. That Kalim and Jamil had noticed it when even Grim had not was almost unsettling.

“I had an…ah…accident at work,” Yuu admitted with a sigh.

“Your part-time job…” Kalim remembered. He grinned. “Man, Yuu, you’re so clumsy! If you were a Scarabia student, I could get Jamil to help you out when you keep getting hurt.”

“Huh?” Grim perked up. “Scarabia student?”

“Kalim,” Jamil sighed, “we talked about this already.”

“Yeah, but Yuu’s just being polite,” Kalim crossed his arms, looking rather unsatisfied. “And he’s helped me out. Plus he’s a good kid! It’s natural to want to help him back, right?”

“Not really a good kid,” Yuu tried weakly. Both of them ignored him.

“Transferring him in to Scarabia isn’t going to help him out,” Jamil said slowly. “In fact, it might do the exact opposite.”

Yuu agreed with Jamil fully. Right now, the most hostile dorm in this school was Scarabia—though with their reputation of being deliberate, she had no idea why they retaliated against her so openly. But she was sure that putting her into Scarabia would spell an early death.

Jamil’s statement necessarily meant he had noticed this already.

She glanced over Kalim’s shoulder at him. Leaning against the upper row of wooden desks rising behind him, Jamil regarded her back coolly with one shining lock of black hair falling across his right eye.

Yuu got the message loud and clear. He knew. He just didn’t care. As the vice Dorm Head, surely Jamil had the power to do something about the bullying, and instead he smiled politely and said, “The Directing Student’s already been targeted by the Heartslabyul Dorm Head. Right?”

Kalim brought her attention back to him when he tilted his head to the side, exposing the bow of his turban tied neatly on the right side of his head. “Heartslabyul? Targeted?”

Grim finally broke his silence to crawl on top of her lap. “That Riddle is controlling my henchman’s every move,” he sniffed, “…which pisses me off, but Yuu made him worry, so it’s what the Glasses calls ‘due process’ or whatever.”

“I’m sort of Heartslabyul’s prisoner until Sunday,” Yuu explained sheepishly, not having expected Jamil to know this much. “As punishment for being lax about my personal safety.”

“Gotcha.” Kalim didn’t react with more than a smiling nod.

“Hmm? I thought Riddle was trying to transfer you into his dorm,” Jamil frowned. “For how prickly he is usually, he seems quite fond of you.”

“He what?” Yuu blinked.

“Huh? So I got beaten to the punch?” Kalim crossed his arms with an unsatisfied frown. “If Riddle can invite you then so can I!”

“I’m not leaving Ramshackle,” Yuu said hastily. Sure, it was more than nice to live in Heartslabyul for the week and she’d received more food, clothing, and personal effects than she had her entire life, but the issue of her gender would be far harder to conceal when living with other people. “And they were probably just joking. Right. Joking.”

Grim sighed. “…But the Glasses’…Trey’s cooking is really good.”

“ _Not_ transferring,” Yuu stressed.

Jamil arched a brow. “…Hmm. Well, it must be tough for you too, with the Card Soldiers and their Queen so fixated on you. And it’ll probably be hard for anyone else to put a foot in to transfer him, Kalim.”

“Fixated?” Yuu squinted. “We’re friends.”

“Aww man,” Kalim pouted, “I still think you’d love it at Scarabia. But I won’t force you if you don’t wanna. That’s right! Instead, how ‘bout you come to my feast tonight!”

“Feast?” Yuu blinked.

“Banquet. Feast. Party.” Kalim spread his hands wide, exposing a series of bangles hanging from his wrists. “We’ve got tons and tons of good food, and there’s gonna be singing and dancing and I can show you around Scarabia! How about it, Yuu? I promise you’ll have lots of fun!”

The light caught his smile; Kalim glowed gold with the afternoon and his innate light, earrings sparkling. His arm cloaked Jamil’s face in shadow as the vice Dorm Head leaned quietly against the desks behind him. Yuu narrowed her eyes, almost blinded, almost convinced into agreement.

Grim pulled her from it by putting both paws out in a diagonal cross in front of him. “Nuh-uh. No way,” he said clearly. “My henchman is already making food tonight and I’ve been looking forward to it _all day._ Plus Ace gets really scary when he doesn’t get what he wants, okay?”

The moment passed—Yuu regained her bearings with a sharp intake of breath. Kalim was so bright, a magnet. She had to be careful not to get sucked into his pace.

“You don’t have to feel like you owe me or something,” she told him with a grin. “Everything turned out fine since we figured out who was behind the accidents and stopped anything bad from happening.”

“What are you talking about?” Kalim blinked. “Sure, there’s your leg. But you’re my friend, Yuu. We’ve gone past that already. Friends hang out and play, right?”

“So bright,” she murmured.

“What?”

“Next time,” Yuu told him, unable to resist her smile. “Once I get released and things go back to normal, I’d love to visit.”

Jamil caught her eye. His look asked her if she really wanted to risk the ire of the other Scarabia students.

Yuu shrugged helplessly at him. Kalim was impossible to resist. Jamil seemed aware of this too; he passed a hand tiredly over his eyes and pushed himself upright.

“Come on,” he told Kalim, “you’ve wasted enough time here. We need to get started with preparations behind your feast or else I won’t make it in time.”

“In time?” Grim echoed.

The vice Dorm Head sighed. “Who do you think is the one who makes all the food for these things?”

—

Since Yuu hadn’t been able to get her friends at Heartslabyul to eat her food before—her first shot at omurice from three weeks ago had disappeared cleanly into Ruggie’s stomach—she figured that this time around would be the perfect opportunity to re-purchase ingredients and cook for them. Savanaclaw’s students, most of whom could not make their own food, had praised hers to high heaven, so it had given Yuu some confidence to surprise Ace and Deuce after club activities Tuesday with steaming plates of omurice.

Ace had laughed meanly and called her a housewife, but Deuce had been so impressed that he grabbed both of her shoulders and told her that he was proud of being her friend. Yuu rolled her eyes, though she couldn’t help her grin. Deuce was so easily swayed by food.

By the weekend, Yuu’s oriental-style food (here they called it the ‘far east’) had been introduced to many of the dorm students. The last rose-painting of the season was under way that weekend—as well as the relocation of Heartslabyul’s many animals into a more temperate environment—so after an early Saturday morning where Yuu was introduced to rule of Heartslabyul face-painting, she was partnered with Cater to do the final checks on the rosebushes past four before being put on kitchen duty. It seemed that Heartslabyul appreciated her food just as much as Savanaclaw. Or was it just that Japanese food tasted good?

“I had no idea the marks on everyone’s faces had to be painted on every so often,” Yuu commented as she peeled potatoes in the kitchen. “Though I was wondering why everyone at Heartslabyul was so good at applying makeup.”

Cater, perched on the island behind her, watched in fascination as a Charmed knife sliced through defrosted chunks of pork sirloin beside her. “Hmm? Oh, yeah. Even with long-lasting spells cast on them, this stuff is still water-soluble, so it behaves kind of like a temporary tattoo.” He tapped his diamond mark and winked at her. “Though with two older sisters at home, you sorta get good with this stuff.”

Having been regaled with the tales of how he was used—“Like a slave!” Cater had wailed grievously—by his sisters without mercy, Yuu winced in sympathy. “But you’re really good at it. I’ve never even tried makeup before.”

“Yeah, outside of Pomefiore and Heartslabyul, you don’t see guys walking around with glitter or paint on their faces so often.” Cater paused, guessing her next question and grinning. “Scarabia’s a little different—most of theirs is to keep their skin from getting damaged. That dorm is in the middle of a desert, after all.”

So the purple markings under the Leech siblings’ eyes were probably natural. Yuu nodded thoughtfully. “I bet it helps you out when you’re taking selfies.”

“You bet’cha!” Cater said lightly. “At the beginning of the year, I was the one in charge of the firsties who couldn’t make heads or tails of a makeup brush. Deuce-chan in particular took until the end of September to start painting his spade on by himself. Most people rely on the adhesive magic spell they learn sometime in September, but it’s better for style to paint it.”

“Was it just a coincidence that his mark is a spade and yours is a diamond?” Yuu wanted to know. She cleared off the potato peels into the garbage can with a sweep of her fingers. “Since it matches your last names.”

“Well, our names are a mark of our country’s history…” Cater hopped off his seat to come stand beside her, leaning casually against the sink as he explained. “And our last names aren’t really unusual. See?”

She paused in laying the potatoes out on a cutting board to peer over his arm as he turned the screen of his smartphone in her direction. Cater scrolled down his list of contacts—indeed, variations on the suits’ names such as Club, Clovers, Diamund, Hearts, and such filled the screen.

“How many contacts do you _have_?” Yuu asked him, almost disgusted.

“Probably over a thousand?” Cater gave her a secret grin. “It’s better to have more info than less. Right?”

Unlike the extraverted Cater, Yuu was sure that she’d wear herself out within a day if she had even a tenth of his information network. In a way, he was much stronger than she.

“In any case,” he continued, “Riddle-kun—or the Dorm Head at the time—picks the shape that gets painted on our faces when we’re admitted. It was pretty easy for me, Trey-kun and Deuce-chan since our last names matched so well.”

“That’s so…cute…” Yuu managed in surprise. “So there’s a bit of the Dorm Head’s personal touch on everyone’s face in here?”

“Right? Everyone else in here is like ‘why do we have to paint our faces’,” Cater imitated in a flat voice, “but Yuu-chan, you get it, right? Isn’t it cute?”

“Yeah. It must be great being accepted into the dorm like that,” she nodded fervently.

He eyed her. “Want one for yourself?”

“I know what you’re trying to do and I choose to ignore it,” Yuu told him primly.

“Too bad,” he sang, but let the topic drop.

Cater Diamond could be described as buoyant, high-tension, and frivolous at first glance. He did have a heavy addiction to his phone and became easily obsessed with the latest trends, designs, interesting occurrences in and out of NRC. However, as she spent time in Heartslabyul, Yuu was beginning to realize that the flip side of his cheerfulness revealed a curious detachment in the way he viewed the world.

It was as if he was looking at everyone through the lens of his smartphone camera. Even through both Overblots that had nearly killed two Dorm Heads, Cater had not reacted with the same desperate struggling the rest of them had.

Cater caught sight of her examining him and turned with his ever-present smile. “What’s up? Bewitched by my looks, Yuu-chan?”

“Just wondering if you’re bored talking to me,” Yuu shrugged, grinning back. Either way, she liked him a lot. His intelligence and level-headedness was difficult to discover, since he tried to place distance between himself and the rest of them, but Yuu thought Cater might be one of the more reasonable people in this school.

Now he scoffed, poking her in the nose. “Man, you’re so serious. If I were bored with you, would I be standing here?”

Yuu remembered him chasing Grim down the hall a few days ago trying to film without his phone shaking. “Guess you’d be off looking for something more interesting.”

“Exactly. You’re not stupid, you should know that already,” he told her without a change in expression. “Yuu-chan, somehow you keep ending up right in the middle of everyone. It’s never boring around you.”

Yuu ducked her head in embarrassment. “…That’s the first time anyone’s said something like that to me.”

“Wanna take a picture in commemoration?” Cater lifted his phone and snapped a two-shot with her. “Hashtag ‘Yuu-chan makes _nikujaga_ ’, ‘Ramshackle’s first year can cook,’ ‘Heartslabyul’s cute new underclassman’!”

“Hey! Not that last one!” she protested. “I’m not going to transfer no matter how much Rosehearts-senpai and Trey-senpai mention it!”

“Next time you should wear the white Heartslabyul dorm uniform I handed to you way back in September,” Cater winked at her, lifting his smartphone out of her reach. “Then you’ll really fit in without a doubt!”

Yuu, who wore the athletic jersey and uniform outside of school since she had no other clothing, remembered that she still had the fitted suit and matching shoes tucked in the back of her closet at Ramshackle. Unfortunately, they were a sparkling white so bright that she replied immediately, “Absolutely not.”

“C’mon, don’t be such a bad sport!” Given his grin, Cater knew exactly why she didn’t want to wear it normally.

“Senpai, you sure enjoy teasing your underclassmen, don’t you?”

“Sure is lively in here,” Trey poked his head around the doorway, eyes crinkled in a smile. “You bullying the Transfer, Cater?”

“What a slight to my reputation!” Cater puffed out his cheeks, looking much younger than his eighteen years. “We were just chatting while Yuu-chan started on dinner! _Ne_ , Yuu-chan?”

“Trey-senpai,” Yuu dipped him a nod in greeting. “He was teaching me about Heartslabyul’s customs. Is everyone done with their work?”

“Yeah. Well, most of us. Riddle caught a few first-years slacking off and now is in the middle of, ah, re-educating them.” Trey winced briefly.

“Let me guess,” Yuu deadpanned. “Ace is included in that number.”

“An astute observation.” Trey approached the two of them. “Want some help, Transfer? Offering to make dinner for an entire full dormitory of students is no small feat.”

“Hey! Cay-kun was going to ask first!” Cater protested with an easy smile.

Yuu looked up at the both of them in surprise. “But you guys are already tired from doing so much work today.”

“Cater here hasn’t done much—”

“Hey!”

“—and you know being a pâtissier requires a lot of heavy lifting,” Trey ignored his fellow third-year, starting to roll up the sleeves of his athletic uniform. “Even if you’ve got your magic doing the work, I can at least be another set of hands.”

“Trey-senpai really is a big brother,” Yuu grinned. “Then could you fill those three big pots with filtered water, please?”

It turned out that Trey was just as proficient at cooking as he was at baking. Cater watched the two of them bustle around the kitchen and remarked, “Hashtag ‘Heartslabyul’s housewives’,” before Trey smacked him on the head with a wooden spoon.

“Cater’s a youngest child like Ace,” Trey told her as Cater clutched his head in pain. “The two of them are used to other people spoiling them, so don’t be too sweet on ’em, Transfer.”

“Devil,” Cater muttered.

“Say anything?”

Yuu laughed. The more she saw of the dynamics between the third-years, the more she liked them.

After the three huge pots of food were set on the stove and simmering, Trey pulled out pre-made finger sandwiches for the three of them to chew on while they waited. The lights magically came on in the kitchen as dusk fell outside, much earlier than it had in September when tea parties still took place in the garden. Warmth seeped through to her skin.

“He’s falling asleep again,” Cater commented as Yuu’s head drooped towards her plate.

“Hey there.” Trey caught her forehead before it could make contact with the ceramic, propping it up from her right side. Yuu barely noticed the warmth against her head, blinking sleepily. “I know we heard about this last week, but you really sleep everywhere, don’t you, transfer?”

Yuu yawned and leaned her head tiredly on his arm. “Guess I’m more tired than I thought.”

“Trey-kun is seriously good at spoiling other people,” Cater watched his friend good-naturedly shift Yuu closer to him so she was more comfortable.

“I used to do this with my younger siblings when they got tired all the time,” Trey commented, his voice a low rumble. “Plus, last night when I was passing Riddle’s room I heard them talking long after lights out. I don’t think either of them have been sleeping enough.”

“Riddle-kun really likes Yuu-chan, after all,” Cater muttered. “It’s not unusual for them to get excited about their first sleepovers.”

Trey paused. “…It’s okay to be fond of him, you know.”

“Hmm?”

“Of the Transfer.”

“…Cay-kun doesn’t know what you’re talking about.”

“If you say so.” Trey patted her head when she stirred. “We should seriously do something about the lack of caution this kid has in this school, though. It’s a miracle he hasn’t gotten into trouble yet.”

“He’s gotten into _lots_ of trouble.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah.”

Yuu listened to them converse through a haze of drowsiness, although she wasn’t quite out for the count. Through her nearly closed eyelids, the yellow lights filling the kitchen almost resembled the same lights in the Great Hall during mealtimes. Unlike then, she was so much warmer here.

“…Riddle-kun said when I told him?” Cater was saying in hushed tones to let her doze. He cleared his throat, imitating the Dorm Head’s clear voice. “‘ _Hmph_. There’s nothing to worry about whether he falls asleep in the lounge or in the kitchen…putting aside the rules. After all, he’s under my protection. I’d like to see anyone try to lay a finger on Yuu.’ I think this guy’s gotten _worse_ since his Overblot.”

“Yeah…Riddle’s been like that when he was young. Always convinced he’s right and that he knows best,” Trey said ruefully, “I don’t think even the end of the world could change that.”

“For someone who’s home life is so restricted, his ego sure is strong,” Cater commented. “Almost like he’s found a new toy.”

“Hey, that’s taking it a bit far,” Trey said mildly. “…Though I don’t not see your point, Transfer _did_ save his life. And more importantly showed that he was willing to risk it all for him. It’s hard not to get attached to someone like that.”

“Yeah, but Yuu-chan’s so…okay with being controlled that it’s kind of alarming,” Cater sounded subdued. “Since Riddle doesn’t really know when to stop.”

“None of them have personal boundaries,” Trey shrugged, lifting her head with the movement. “That’s where we upperclassmen come in. Right?”

“Seriously, I just wanna live a carefree high school life,” Cater whined.

“You’d sound more convincing if there wasn’t a huge grin on your face,” Trey commented. “Like being the ‘big brother’ for once?”

“Oh shut up. You’re the one having the most fun here with Yuu-chan following behind your footsteps like a little duckling.”

“What can I say? He’s a pretty cute underclassman.”

“Geh. Stop that, it’s scary.”

The rest of their conversation was lost to her. The comforting repetition of a large hand running over the top of her head was a quick ticket to dreamland, and this time Yuu did not struggle with visions of ink and fear. Instead, she saw a garden of white roses being painted red one by one, air suffused sweetly with the mouth-watering smell of sugar baking in the oven.

—

It turned out that there really was a clause for unexpected injury being counted as an emergency exempting her from a demerit at Mostro Lounge. Because the article was in the school handbook—which Yuu, by the way, still did not have—she had been on her toes expecting Azul to change his mind by her next shift on Sunday. Instead, he only made some derogatory comments about how seedy looking she was with her bandages, and could she really stand another day in the hall?

Yuu didn’t take offence at his need to insult another. It reminded her of Scorpius Malfoy’s father, whom she had met only once when the younger boy had introduced her at the end of her third year and his first. Draco Malfoy insulted others like it was his job, but according to the much gentler Scorpius, the Pureblood society of wizards and witches made him seem like a teddy bear.

Indeed, England, Wizarding or not, was chock-full of people who liked to insult others, and Yuu had long since learned that it was some sort of conversation-propagator. Azul’s insults were comparatively intelligent and cutting, but it was nothing she was not used to. Though he talked a lot.

Her arms were feeling a lot better with the expert treatment Crewel forced her to undergo each morning. Earlier that day he’d told her that if all went well, she would be able to shed her bandages at the end of next week without a scar. When Yuu expressed her admiration for his abilities, he told her how much of a crime it was to leave a scar on a teenage girl’s unmarked skin and flicked her irately in the forehead. It was clear she was still not out of the woods with him.

Since the Mostro Lounge uniform specified gloves, no one could see her bandages anyway, and Yuu passed the afternoon of her shift without trouble. A few of the regular staff commented briefly on how she hadn’t been around, but no one asked further.

Octavinelle wasn’t actively unfriendly towards her; in fact, its residents were relatively harmless. There was a distinct note of pity in their gazes when they looked in her direction, as if she was someone under a heavy curse, though no one tried to aid her. Yuu remembered belatedly that Trey had said something about Octavinelle being founded on the ‘spirit of mercy of the witch of the sea’.

Still, by no means did they take steps outside their comfortably made personal bubbles, let alone interacting with her more than necessary. It was another quality of Mermen in this world that she was beginning to notice. A much stronger version of Cater’s aloofness, and no one tried to hide it.

Inhuman…Jade’s words echoed in her mind.

At the end of the day, Azul called her out from the kitchen where the remaining staff were cleaning up. Yuu took note of how even the unshakeable regulars of considerable height twitched at his entrance before following him into the VIP Room, which she’d seen so much of it had lost the intimidation factor, to listen to his decisions for her future here.

“You really are an excellent employee,” Azul sighed from across his desk, pinching his brows. “It’s a pity that you and Floyd are like oil and water. Did you know that the second he saw today’s roster, he decided not to show up to work?”

“I’m more surprised that you put us together again after what happened last time,” Yuu commented, hopping up onto the arm of one of the leather sofas.

“I told you. It’s better for the future to have you two make up as soon as possible,” he told her with a condescending air of patience. “And I’ve told him quite clearly to refrain from needless violence in the future.”

Azul, it seemed, had not even considered firing an employee with as much potential as her. Yuu didn’t think she was anything special, but her eye for observation was useful in situations like these, and she wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Still, he told her with an unfriendly smile to prepare herself for the next week of shifts, because he would be using her twice as much as usual to make up for the trouble earlier that week and during the Magift tournament.

He had an excellent evil smile. Yuu nodded without complaint and received the bank statement he’d printed out for her. Since she didn’t have a phone or computer, there was no other way to check on her savings—Yuu wasn’t about to leave campus anytime soon. Azul had made it a point to give her statements at the end of each week’s shifts.

She glanced through it and froze. “Hold on a second. Why did I get paid for the day of the Magift tournament?”

Azul gave her a contemptuous glance down his glasses. “Normally, here’s where you pretend nothing is wrong and leave.”

“But I was in the infirmary and didn’t do any work.”

“…If you must know,” he sighed, “it’s because the ideas that you provided for the booths that day were more successful than imagined. Especially the badges and patterned scarves. Our calculated profits were one hundred and twenty seven percent up last year’s…even _with_ scaling.”

“They sold well?” Yuu blinked.

“And then some. I seem to have underestimated the foolish…excuse me, the enthusiasm of visitors to the Night Raven College,” here Azul’s smile widened unpleasantly, “many of them were more than eager to purchase licensed NRC-themed apparel and such at the asking price.”

Yuu didn’t understand much about business, but with how pleased Azul looked (it was rather scary), she gathered that the scraps of paper she’d given him had turned a considerably higher profit than imagined.

“Ashengrotto-senpai,” she hesitated as he dismissed her, “can you tell me more about Mermen?”

Azul blinked at the non sequitur. But he was intelligent enough to see where her thoughts were in seconds. “…Are you still thinking about what Jade mentioned the other day?”

“Maybe.” As soon as she was released to Ramshackle tomorrow, Yuu was planning on ransacking the library for the list of books Crewel had mentioned to her. “…We don’t have Mermen like you in my world.”

“A non-magic world,” Azul murmured. “Without Therianthropes, Mermen and Fey…No wonder you are so laughably ignorant of the ways the magical society here works.”

“I don’t particularly want to ‘make up’ with Strangler-senpai,” Yuu shrugged, “but there’s nothing that interests me more than knowledge. And it’s beneficial enough for you to alert me about trouble I could get in, right?”

“It _has_ been a while since a human has lasted this long here,” Azul nodded. “Just a few things, then. I am far busier than you seem to be.”

She took note of the smudges of purple under his pale eyes and nodded. In this, Yuu was not about to argue, not when Azul looked like a workaholic the likes of which she’d never seen before. The fact that he was deigning to talk to her about it in the first place showed just how much her spat with Floyd was affecting the Lounge—Azul was not someone who did things out of the ‘mercy’ of his heart. No matter how much he went on and on about his generosity, Azul was only generous to his own desires.

Why he was placed in Octavinelle was a mystery to her. In the first place, was Ursxla even merciful? She couldn’t remember the details of that particular Dixney movie anymore.

“Even among Mermen, Floyd is quite unique,” Azul began. “The residents of this dorm are usually merciful and kind, but—”

“…Can I ask,” Yuu put her hand up weakly, “if you’re being serious when you say that?”

Azul blinked at her. “Stop interrupting me. Of course I’m serious. Do we not look merciful to you?”

“I just learned something about Mermen, I guess,” she muttered. Namely that their definition of ‘kindness’ differed radically from the human definition. If Azul was ‘kind’ then she wondered what the rest of the Mermen in this world were like.

“Floyd is impossible to read,” Azul continued, ignoring her. “Even by people who know him, one can never quite understand the reaction he has to others. It’s rare for him to be as strongly against someone as he is towards you…on the surface, anyway.”

“I asked about Mermen, not Strangler-senpai,” Yuu tried. He ignored her.

“But Floyd isn’t very good at expressing his emotions articulately. This is why you’re going to have to take the first step, Yuu-san,” Azul laced his hands under his chin, narrowing those pale blue eyes and fixing her in place.

“I politely refuse,” she met it inch by inch. “Unless he apologises for trying to hurt another student, I have no interest in continuing a conversation with him. And from the looks of it he wouldn’t know what the word ‘sorry’ meant even if it bit him in the behind.”

“…Sometimes I can even respect your fearlessness,” Azul shook his head, “I’ve never seen anyone talk about Floyd that way. Though…I see.”

Yuu blinked as Octavinelle’s Dorm Head leaned his chin into his fingers thoughtfully. “You’re willing to give up?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I finally understood why you are so disagreeable, this time,” Azul regarded her across the table. “When before, you were relatively calm no matter how many times Floyd strangled you or threatened you or tried to discourage you from continuing work here.”

“Does it matter?” Yuu squinted at him, wondering what direction he was taking this in.

“Why, of course it does!” Azul leaned forwards, a manic light gleaming in his pale eyes. “Yuu-san, the foundation of business relationships relies on the knowledge of oneself and the knowledge of others. What makes them tick, what brings a smile to their face, …What keeps them up at night shaking. You are unusually hard to read and quite frustrating to watch, so every bit of information I can squeeze from you is information I will not let slip by.”

Startled by the fervour in his voice, Yuu’s mouth dropped open. “Oh…I didn’t know I was hard to read. I’m not that good at hiding emotions on my face, according to other people…”

“In any case,” Azul regained his usual implacability, “Now I know that Yuu-san, you’re not very disturbed if you yourself are injured, but the same does not hold true if others are involved. Who was it…ah, I remember. Wasn’t there a Savanaclaw second year involved in the fight? The one Floyd was aiming for?”

“That’s right,” Yuu nodded. “He’s not exactly innocent, but Strangler-senpai clearly took things too far.”

“I see…” Azul gave her a profound look of sympathy, though the effect was ruined with the glee brightening his gaze. “Truly a misfortunate person. Someone like you is only going to see losses in a place like NRC…how piteous!”

“You look like you’re having fun,” Yuu remarked.

“Do you want my help or not?”

“O great, wise, and merciful Ashengrotto-senpai,” Yuu clutched at her chest, “do deign to dispense a few words of wisdom on this humble servant.”

“I swear,” Azul mumbled, trying not to laugh. “… _Ahem_. Now that it’s clear why you are unwilling to forgive him this time, I would warn you that the value of a life is not the same across species, either. Floyd probably has no idea why you’re angry.”

“…Oh,” Yuu blinked, surprised.

“By the way, I would like to know,” Azul’s gaze sharpened on her. “Were you angry that Floyd injured him because you dislike violence? Or because you couldn’t stand someone being hurt?”

“Because it was avoidable,” Yuu told him readily. “And it was senseless. The student was in a state of panic and I was trying to talk him down. He had his faults, but getting punched was overkill and frankly only caused negatives all around.”

Azul blinked several times. “…Not because you felt sorry for the student?”

“Well, sure I did,” Yuu scratched her head, “he was sort-of innocent.”

“But,” Azul murmured and was silent for a long moment. “…Yuu-san, you truly astound me sometimes.”

“That I’m not a nice person?”

“You’re plenty ‘nice’,” he waved her off. “…I didn’t expect a boring student like you to think so deeply under that hair that covers your eyes.”

“Back to the insults,” Yuu muttered.

“Unlike you, Floyd holds little interest in other humans’ well-being, so there is a disconnect in values between you.” Azul ignored her. “He values ‘interest’ and ‘fun’ above all else. Things that get in the way of his enjoyment are what most easily damages his temper.”

“I gathered that much,” Yuu gave up—clearly, Azul was not going to tell her about Mermen until he had talked about his friend to his heart’s content. “Though Strangler-senpai is always in a bad mood around me.”

“Yes. That is because there is something about you that is getting in the way of his enjoyment of things,” Azul nodded. “…Which is my best guess. No one can really tell what he’s thinking.”

“Not even Leech-senpai?”

“Jade certainly comes closer than anyone else, but that guy purposefully prevents himself from guessing just because he hates not having surprises in his life,” muttered Azul. “Honestly, the two of them are just versions of each other.”

Something about the way he said that last thing reminded Yuu sharply of her hero, Hermione Granger, who had recently been appointed the next Minister of Magic before she turned forty. Perhaps that was why she couldn’t hate Azul despite his frostiness. Not only was he a hard worker, but he was also right most of the time.

“What?” He frowned at her. “Are you even listening, Yuu-san?”

“You really like them, don’t you?” Yuu commented absently. He talked about Floyd and Jade like Mrs Granger talked about her husband, Ronald Weasley, and best friend Auror Potter. They had their world formed perfectly around them.

But Azul, unlike Hermione Granger, squinted at her like she was insane. “What on earth are you talking about? They’re my business partners. Nothing like what you humans stupidly label friendship. There is no such thing as an equal friendship.”

“And a business relationship is equal?”

“That’s right. None of us are above or below the other. We both gain from each other and give to each other.” Azul said it like it was natural, as if this rule had been what laced him and the Leech twins together from the very beginning. “It’s a far better relationship than something as uncertain and foolish as friendship.”

Yuu didn’t know about that. What he had with Floyd and Jade might have brought this Mostro Lounge to life in the first place, but her ‘uncertain’ friendship with Ace and Deuce, what Trey shared with Riddle, the nameless existence between Leona and Ruggie, none of that was as clearly laid out as a business deal. In fact, she had long since disposed of thought about who ‘benefited’ from the relationship because to Yuu, it didn’t matter.

Still, what he said wasn’t wrong. It truly seemed that Mermen operated on a separate scale of values than humans did. Or was it just the three of them?

“ _Anyway_ ,” Azul dismissed the topic, “Despite his easily changing moods, Floyd is a simple person…at least the part he shows the world. He has no attachment to physical objects or beliefs or ideals. This means that he won’t remain unduly angry or hold grudges, even against someone whom he doesn’t like. Actually, I don’t remember Floyd saying he ‘disliked’ someone at all.”

“He clearly doesn’t like me,” Yuu put up her hand. “Um, are you talking about the same person?”

“I’m saying that there’s something we’re—that you’re not seeing,” Azul snapped. “That guy isn’t usually like this. Especially with that nickname he… _otto_. Almost gave you too many hints. Yuu-san, anything beyond this point will cost you. My advice, of course, is for you to try and appease him enough to return to the point where your work is not affected.”

“But—”

“Figure out some way to bypass the reason for your dissatisfaction,” he ignored her. “Either convince him he was wrong, let it go, or swallow it for now. Floyd is not going to value the lives or circumstances of others anytime soon. That’s all.”

“You didn’t tell me about Mermen at all!” Yuu protested.

“When did I say I would tell you about ‘Mermen’?” Azul’s smile widened unpleasantly. “Good evening, Yuu-san. Please be careful on your way home.”

Yuu didn’t hate Azul, but even she could admit that he could be insufferable. Still, he was her employer, so she swallowed any sharper retorts she might have had and slid off the couch arm to leave.

By the door to the VIP Room, Yuu paused and turned around, not wanting to leave without dispelling this pent-up discontent in her lungs. Yet the sharp words stuck in her throat as she looked. Azul was once again bent over his desk, writing on yellow parchment with a fishbone pen. The waves of his silver hair obscured the tops of his glasses, but she remembered the beginnings of circles smudged under his eyes.

Yuu left the room silently.

She wondered what drove Azul. What made him stay up late working on things she didn’t know. What made him create Mostro Lounge his first year of schooling. What made Jade and Floyd—both of whom she could not understand—follow so obediently behind him.

_The foundation of business relationships relies on the knowledge of oneself and the knowledge of others. What makes them tick, what brings a smile to their face, …What keeps them up at night shaking._

“I could ask the same about you,” Yuu mumbled to herself as she stood under the showerhead of Riddle’s huge washroom. Hot droplets of water drowned her words out in a hiss as innumerable tiny bullets drummed against her sore back, against the tiled wall, and fell powerlessly against the porcelain tub down, down, down through the metal drain into the depths below.

—

It was with mixed feelings that Yuu finally stepped foot into Ramshackle Dorm after school on Monday. Though she’d come back briefly in between her stay at Savanaclaw and living in Heartslabyul, it felt much longer than three weeks she’d been away. The building creaked ominously with every sweep of cold autumn wind cutting across the yard.

“Looks like it’s gonna blow over,” Grim commented disgustedly from her shoulder. “Maybe we shoulda listened to that Glasses and stayed another few days.”

“You know as well as I do that we can’t let our guard down against Trey-senpai,” Yuu answered him, wincing as the cold cut through her uniform. She might need a coat soon.

The first-years in Class A had been paired with Class E that day for afternoon Flight class, so as her adrenaline calmed following her barely-endured exercise regime, Yuu felt the cold even more acutely even as her flushed skin rejoiced at the contact. With the beginning of November fallen upon Night Raven College, temperatures were dipping close to zero with alarming frequency. The grass around her dorm was completely brown; the last few curled leaves clung to the gnarled trees that shaded the warped metal fence and shaky lamps leading up to Ramshackle.

“Looks like a haunted mansion,” Yuu commented, pushing the gate open with a loud protest of metal.

“It _is_ haunted.” Grim retorted. “With the Ghosts.”

“Right.” The Ghosts were so friendly it was hard to consider them as anything malignant, but come to think of it, they did used to be enemies.

“Anyway,” her partner sighed, “We’re here and not at Heartslabyul anymore…like you wanted. You better take responsibility and keep me warm!”

“It was a pretty close call,” she recalled with a wince. “If you hadn’t saved me, I don’t know what would’ve happened. Thanks, Grim.”

Yuu’s return to Ramshackle had been a closer call than she liked to admit, even to herself.

After the first years had changed and returned to the school building at the end of their last class that day, Trey had been waiting for her outside the classroom. He’d held her bag while she cleaned up her things and herded her towards the castle doors so naturally that she’d started walking with him. Like usual, they’d headed in the direction of the building containing the Hall of Mirrors, chatting about the day’s classes and the cheesecake he’d done the preparations to make today.

This past week, she’d gotten so used to Riddle, Trey, or Cater herding her to class, between the cafeteria, and back to the gardens that it didn’t occur to her that since her ‘punishment’ was done, there was no longer any reason for him to be here. Yuu had followed Trey in a high mood until Grim woke up halfway across campus grounds, asking her why they were on their way to Heartslabyul.

It was only then that she had stopped walking and breathing for a solid thirty seconds before turning to thump Trey in the side with her schoolbag (she had aimed for his shoulder, but he was far taller than her). “ _Trey-senpai!_ ”

“Ha ha ha! Don’t be angry,” Trey took the hits with grace, shielding himself with his bag. “You came along so easily that I couldn’t help it.”

“You’re! Too! Convincing!” Yuu gave up and massaged her temple. “Ugh…I’m not usually tricked this easily…I should’ve been more careful!”

“This Glasses looks nice, but he’s just as cunning as that Ruggie,” Grim commented. “Stop using my henchman’s indulgence towards you to try and make him into a Heartslabyul student!”

“Oh? Grim, I thought you weren’t against becoming a Heartslabyul student?” Trey didn’t take offence to the name as they made a one-eighty turn towards the direction of Ramshackle, way up north of the school castle.

“I don’t care,” Grim sniffed. “But Yuu does. So until he decides, we’re Ramshackle.”

“ _Grim_ ,” Yuu squeezed him. “That’s right, Trey-senpai. No matter how good you are at spoiling people rotten or convincing people that you’re right, I’m not coming over today too!”

“That’s too bad,” Trey said easily. “At least let me walk with you over to Ramshackle, though. Riddle, Cater and I are going to miss you being around. You sure you don’t want to at least taste the cheesecake?”

“Ugh!” She emitted again, refusing to look in his direction as her cheeks burned. “Stop that!”

“Stop what?” His voice trembled with suppressed laughter.

Yuu decided that talking with this person was dangerous and stomped towards her dorm more quickly, though the effort was futile due to his long legs. It really was scary how easily Trey Clover could take control of a situation.

—

The memory of what had happened a few moments ago made Yuu shake her head in embarrassment. How stupid of her to be caught that easily! As she approached the worn-looking door after bidding him a reluctant farewell, Yuu wouldn’t say she regretted her stubbornness…but Ramshackle had no fridge and Trey’s cheesecake was _so good_.

“That was a close call,” Yuu muttered to Grim as she twisted the doorknob, “if I kept going like that I would’ve become unable to live without Trey-senpai’s food.”

“Talk about it,” Grim rubbed his belly, “Or don’t. I’m gonna get hungry.”

“You’re always hungry,” she said absently, thinking about just how scary Trey and Jade and everyone else in this school might be on the inside.

Grim was done with him already. “Hey, can we stop by Sam’s—”

The door swung open and both of them stopped their conversation abruptly.

After a minute of staring, Yuu pulled the door shut. “…Guess I’m a little tired,” she laughed nervously. “I swear I’m seeing things.”

Grim rubbed his eyes with his paws; she copied him. “…Open it again.”

She opened it again.

“Um,” Yuu’s voice lifted out of its regular calm alto and squeaked high. “Okay, so maybe I do need to visit the ophthalmologist soon. Clearly my eyes have gone weird.”

“Me too,” Grim nodded furiously. “Why does this place look so…”

“…Liveable?” she finished.

It had been impossible to see from the outside, but Ramshackle Dorm had gotten a makeover. Even the other sides of the crooked double doors had its wood replaced with sturdier material and the doorknob fixed and shined until the metal glowed. Yuu and Grim stepped gingerly inside onto the entranceway carpet, where a coat-hanger smelling of fresh wood towered up beside them. The carpet itself was made of dark green and maroon.

Grim hopped down to sniff at the plush fabric, nose working busily. “…Where have I smelt this before…?”

Yuu was busy gazing at awe above her head at the chandeliers dangling every few steps from the ceiling, the wrought-iron lamps sprouting up from the walls. They glowed with the same magic stones that powered the school cafeteria’s chandeliers; Yuu remembered absently Trein explaining to the class how most of the light in the school was powered by the same stones. But weren’t they unbelievably expensive?

The floorboards had been ripped out cleanly and replaced with stronger ones that didn’t so much as creak when Yuu shed her shoes and tested one with her socks. Grim hopped up on the dark green chair by the door and pawed at one of the many paintings hung up on the wall of the entrance hallway as Yuu put her bag down on the entranceway dresser.

The dirty wallpaper had been replaced. The carpets were fresh and new. Lights glowed and brightened the dorm where before there had been none. The stairway was polished; the awnings of the doors glowed with intricately carved designs…paintings hung everywhere: portraits, scenery, cartoonish art. Where doors had hung off their hinges, they now stood proudly guarding each room. Some seemed familiar—they had been re-framed and renewed from the half-broken portraits she’d known when they first moved in to Ramshackle.

Yuu opened the first door and found herself in a wide, modern kitchen spanning the entirety of the inside. The second led to a storage room that was stacked with newly made bookshelves and items; the third a furnished washroom. Along the right side of the first-floor hallway, new glass gleamed in the windows, each illuminated by a lamp hanging from the wall.

The lounge that Yuu, Ace and Deuce usually played cards in had been completely renovated. At the end of the hallway, Yuu saw the light gleaming from within and ran towards it, excitement bubbling up inside of her. Indeed, the couches themselves had been replaced and stuffed with cushions; the balcony window outfitted with new curtains and the fireplace glowing with polish. A rocking chair waved back and forth gently as Grim followed her in at a more sedate pace, jumping up on the widened coffee table and then on the mantle of the fireplace where several of her library books lay below a painting.

“Wow,” Yuu shook her head, a wide grin spreading across her face. “ _Wow_!”

“That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” Grim crowed. “They finally decided to make this place less of a dump!”

Yuu was too full of emotion to respond to him. She cupped her mouth and called out. “Hey, Ghosts! Are you there?”

“ _Hai yo!_ ”

“You called~?”

“Why if it isn’t the Directing Student!”

“And the cat!”

“It’s been a while since we saw ya!”

Grim puffed up. “I told you I’m not a cat!”

Yuu hopped up and down, effervescent with energy, as three of the Ghosts taking up residence in Ramshackle descended through the ceiling, walls, and floor. “Guys! Do you know what happened while I was gone?”

“We aren’t around _all_ the time,” Rotund Ghost crossed his arms at her. “You know, we are sort of dead.”

“Right, right, we’re not corporeal and don’t possess the same kind of perception of reality as you alive people do,” Thin Ghost explained, “though our ‘residence’ is here.”

“Us Ghosts have a lot to do!” Big Ghost flexed his opaque arms. He’d been the one to brag about competing in the Magift Tournament back when he was alive. “Like training!”

“How do you train muscles when you’re dead?” Grim wanted to know.

Ramshackle’s previous residents—the Ghosts—usually only hung around them when they were bored (at least, Yuu thought so). Like Hogwarts Ghosts, they did as they pleased, appearing and disappearing without any particular impetus. However, with their cartoonish appearance and tendency to joke around and laugh when they did exist, they were far less frightening than the Bloody Baron or even Peeves the Poltergeist. Yuu had grown accustomed to their presence the second day of living here, to their apparent surprise, and following her footsteps, Grim had stopped caring a week in.

“If the entire dorm is like this,” Yuu clutched Rotund Ghost’s cold arm as he neared, “You guys can finally have rooms to yourselves!”

Everyone stared at her.

“Huh? Ghosts don’t need rooms,” Grim blinked after a moment.

“I know, but this place is so big and there’s no one around. So many rooms are just free that it’s a waste,” Yuu explained rapidly. “We have three floors. At least! You guys can take any open rooms on the second floor if you want.”

“…I’ve never seen a human offer rooms to Ghosts before,” Rotund Ghost said after a moment.

Yuu let go of his limb, warming her fingers against her legs. Ghosts really were ice-cold. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“ _Hee hee hee_!” Thin Ghost clapped his hands together, though they didn’t make any sound. “As expected of the Directing Student. He makes moves no one would ever think of!”

“I want the biggest one!” Big Ghost puffed out his considerable chest, “for strength training!”

“You shoulda kicked them out,” Grim muttered.

Yuu blinked at him. “Why? It’s not like it’s my possession.”

She still wasn’t sure how many Ghosts lived here—there must have been some who refused to show their faces—but Yuu didn’t mind them being around. There was something about the magic and surprise of one popping into her mirror in the mornings when she brushed her teeth that Yuu was looking for. It was this magic that made her so fascinated with this world, that drove every day forward with her interest.

Even with the spare rooms open, Ace and Deuce usually crowded together with her in the biggest bedroom playing cards and arguing with each other and watching videos on their phones until the three of them, plus an already napping Grim, fell asleep in a huddle. So it wasn’t like there was any other use for the rooms.

As the bunch of Ghosts popped in and out of the woodwork—literally—thanking her and laughing and generally making nuisances of themselves, Yuu and Grim explored the rest of the renovated dorm. In its original state, Ramshackle was unexpectedly grandiose, and now that the stains had gone from the walls and the furniture was fixed, it outshone her muggle home and even her Ravenclaw dormitory by spades. Yuu spent a good half an hour exploring her redone bedroom—apart from the slightly foggy mirror sitting above her small fireplace, the furniture itself was completely new, the carpets and armchair and dresser and nightstand items she'd never seen. A white canvas sat in the corner of her room beside one of the floor-to-ceiling windows.

It had been a long time since Yuu had painted. She wondered what that container sitting on the wall shelf was with the Mickey Mouse silhouettes dotting it. Perhaps acrylics…?

“Yuu,” Grim called from downstairs, “I’m _hungry_.”

“Coming,” Yuu said distractedly, leaving the canvas behind. Her socks thumped softly on the tasselled carpet.

The afternoon was deepening into dusk and she was reluctant to go outside—especially as Yuu had no coat—but Grim told her he smelt food in the direction of the kitchen, so Yuu decided to explore that room before they braved the November chill. Grim, smelling like detergent and something familiar she couldn’t identify, climbed back up onto her shoulder and behind her neck to assume his usual position on her head. Yuu swayed a little. She might have gained a bit of weight, but this guy had gained a lot.

“A fridge,” Yuu exclaimed, moved, as she crossed the island and made her way around the counter that lined the wall. Cabinets filled with cereals, grains, and rice were met with similar exclamations of joy from her.

“This means you can make me food now,” Grim was excited for another reason.

“Yeah, but seriously, who on earth would…?” Yuu paused as she noticed a scrap of paper stuck to the top of the fridge. “Grim, can you get that for me?”

“From this vantage point, you are pretty small,” Grim commented, reaching up past her head to hand her the folded note taped to the freezer area.

Yuu whiffed the same slightly familiar smell she couldn’t quite recall. Before she could mention it, though, she caught sight of the writing on the note and recollected it in a rush.

 _Don’t fall asleep in front of predators, li’l dummy_ , Ruggie had written weeks ago in this same messy scrawl, and his blazer had the same detergent smell that Grim was carrying with him.

“Ruggie-senpai?” Yuu murmured.

“‘ _Hey, Yuu-kun,’_ ” Grim read from over her head. “‘ _Surprise! Figured that while Riddle-kun threw his tantrum, we’d go ahead and start working on that dump you call your dorm. Don’t worry, the bill’s on Leona-san. That guy has no idea what the value of money is, I swear.’_ _Funa_!? Isn’t this from that Savanaclaw…?”

“Yeah, it’s him,” Yuu smoothed out the creases to keep reading. “‘ _How on earth did you survive in here for so long? Don’t answer that. Sometimes I really don’t know whether I should respect you or kidnap you again.’_ ”

“Hey! This guy’s trying to kidnap you again? Like hell I’ll let that happen!”

“It’s a joke, don’t worry,” she rolled her eyes. Ruggie wouldn’t do something so irrational without enough incentive. “‘ _We got permission from the Headmaster and while he was at it, Leona snagged Ramshackle’s title deed too, so come over next week for the party and he’ll hand it over to ya. We had people stuff the fridge and closets full of food, most of which are non-perishable, so you’ll last a while in a pinch. I’ll be waiting for your ‘thank you, Lord Ruggie’ next time you see me! Shi-shi-shi.’_ ”

“…I thought he was a jerk who couldn’t be trusted,” Grim grumbled as Yuu tucked the letter into her blazer pocket, “but you tamed him better than I expected if he’s being so nice to you.”

Yuu shook her head. “Ruggie-senpai never does anything for free. I think that he just took Leona-senpai’s wallet and went a little crazy. Though I have no idea how they renovated Ramshackle to this state in the span of a week.”

Grim was right, though—that Leona, that Ruggie had gone to this extent to display their goodwill was a little…

Her chest squeezed. A _lot_. It was a lot. Next time she saw them she was going to give each of them a great big hug whether they liked it or not.

“That predator…” Grim’s ears fell against his head and he rubbed his face against her hair. “I don’t like that you’re friendly with Savanaclaw, Yuu…”

“Huh?” Yuu blinked in surprise. “Why not?”

“’Cause you’re _my_ partner.” Grim rubbed harder. “And now it smells like them in this stupid place and I have to put my scent everywhere again. _Funaa_.”

“Don’t be silly, Grim. Just because I made friends with Ruggie-senpai doesn’t change the fact that you’re my partner.” Yuu picked Grim up from behind her neck and held him at eye-level. “We’re together every day, right? No one can replace you. You’re my two-in-one.”

“…Still,” Grim looked a little dissatisfied, though his tail was whishing back and forth. “…I didn’t want other people to discover you too.”

—

The enthusiasm of exploring a liveable dorm kept Yuu up that night. She’d never admit it—especially not to Trey (or Grim, who was snoozing away obliviously on her newly replaced king-size bed), but she also missed sharing a four-poster with Riddle. He was an excellent conversationalist, a gentleman and scholar, and Yuu loved listening to his clear voice. Now that she was in a dorm far too large for just her, Grim, and the Ghosts, there was a niggling feeling of emptiness that yawned at the bottom of her heart.

Was this what Ruggie meant when he’d told her she “missed” them?

Yuu still had possession of all the old English nightgowns and sleepwear left behind in Ramshackle, but it was too cold to be wandering around so lightly dressed. She changed back into her uniform (it was either that or her athletic uniform…or the sparkly white suit Cater had given her) and pushed her way outside into the cloudy night overlooking Night Raven College.

Tomorrow she’d tell Ace and Deuce all about Ramshackle’s renovation, Yuu thought, warming her hands with her breath, and then she’d track down Ruggie at the barbeque party and…

A glimmer of yellow-green, fluorescent light blinked before her downturned face. Yuu looked up and met a host of the same firefly-like spots winking in and out of existence close to her head. Sometimes, she would see these same lights in the library, and they often gathered at Ramshackle, especially during the night-time, so Yuu gazed upwards, admiring them without alarm. It had been a while since she had laid eyes upon the phenomenon.

As she drew close to Ramshackle’s fence, the lights strengthened in energy, zooming back and forth inches at a time. Yuu blinked up in question as she shoved the creaky fence open, the rusted scrape of metal nearly drowning out the sound of shoe against stone.

Yuu looked past the fence at the sound. Where before there had been nothing but the cover of night, the Diasomnia student she’d met once (tentative name: Tsuno-tarou) melted out of the darkness, his green eyes glowing the same colour of the lights. He turned towards her and hid them with his lashes. “…Hmm? You’re the human child…”

“Tsuno-tarou?” she blurted out, unable to contain her surprise. “I didn’t see you there.”

He approached her as she left the fence behind, eyes opening wide in surprise. “…Tsuno…tarou?” he repeated slowly. “When you say Tsuno-tarou, you aren’t referring to _me_.”

Yuu grinned up at him cheekily. “Hey, you did give me permission to call you a nickname,” she shot back. “…Though to be honest, I’ve never given anyone a nickname before, so I had to ask my partner for help.”

The last time she’d met alias Tsuno-tarou was before she’d fallen so gracelessly from the stairs and gotten carried off to Savanaclaw. They’d talked for quite a while back then, and the stranger, while as full of himself as Riddle or Leona, was also full of strange advice and knowledge that she was not privy to. There was such an aura of knowledgeable maturity around him that Yuu had even found herself explaining to him her gender and why she was hiding it in this school.

It wasn’t as if she could hide anymore, as he’d seen her without her Crewel-provided disguises (i.e., as dressed as a girl). Yuu hated the Confundus Charm on principle because it messed with the brain, a Ravenclaw’s most precious resource, never mind the fact that she wasn’t supposed to know it yet. Either way, she wasn’t sure it would work on him after her recent track record with spells failing.

Tsuno-tarou was an excellent listener and a better lecturer. Now Yuu was surprised at how happy she was to see him. For someone she’d met only once before, for someone she knew nothing about, being in his presence was calming enough for her to grin unabashedly up at him in welcome.

The Diasomnia student had been studying her just as she studied him. His gradual laugh was stunned and delighted, as if he hadn’t expected to release the sound. “ _Fu…fu fu._ Ha ha ha! Calling _me_ Tsuno-tarou…truly, you do not know the meaning of fear, human child.”

“I can change it?” Yuu squinted up at him. “And my name is Yuu. Not _human child_. We went over this already.”

“All right,” he ignored her, lifting a glove, “I was the one who told you to refer to me as you wished. I suppose I will allow you to call me by that odd nickname.”

“Why thank you Mister Tsuno-tarou, sir,” Yuu rolled her eyes, shivering as a gust of wind blew their way. “What brings you out in this weather? Looking for more ruins?”

Tsuno-tarou shifted to the right a step, cutting off the wind from reaching her. “…Well, something like that. This place has been quite noisy in the past few days, so I haven’t come close. Tell me, are more students entering your dorm?”

“Loud…?” Yuu squinted as the cold faded from around her. “Oh! No, it’s just, one of my friends fixed it up a little bit so it was easier to live in.”

“Hmm. What a waste of a good ruin,” Tsuno-tarou murmured. “…Although it is true that a human female like you should by no means reside in such a shabby abode all alone.”

“It wasn’t so bad,” Yuu shrugged, “though I appreciate the attention.”

He laughed at her. “Truly you are an unusual one.”

“Says the person with the awesome horns and ears,” she muttered. “Want to come in for some hot cocoa? I finally have the resources to brew something suitable for the weather.”

“And there you go, inviting me in again…” Tsuno-tarou sighed. “Very well, human child. Wearing just the uniform is evidently inadequate for you, so on your behalf, I will enter this no-longer-ruin. …Do you have experience in food creation?”

“Cooking? Don’t worry, I’m not going to poison you or anything,” Yuu tugged him back through the fence, pushing it shut. “Other people have been able to eat my food before without trouble.”

“You laugh…but there are people who can truly destroy the world with their attempts,” Tsuno-tarou told her, dead serious. “I do not hold particular interest in food, but there is one person whose food I never want to put in my mouth again.”

“Now that,” Yuu said with a slow smile, “sounds like a story.”

—

The afternoon of Savanaclaw’s barbeque found Yuu stumbling along, doing her best to keep her eyes open as she traversed Main Street after classes. Tsuno-tarou was so fun to talk to that she’d found herself staying up far too late as he lectured her about gargoyle motifs carved in Ramshackle’s outer wall and she told him about what her muggle world was like. Somewhere along the line she must have fallen asleep; the Ghosts shouted both of them awake in the morning telling her she was going to be late, and Yuu sat up, finding herself tucked into her bed even though she didn’t remember him leaving.

Maybe she’d managed to climb into bed sometime after he’d left quietly. Grim hadn’t even noticed she was gone, after all.

Either way, her body protested the brief moments of sleep and dragged her reflexes and energy stores down close to nothing. Yuu used a grumbling Ace as her pillow for most of the day, exhausted, but she was still not over her near-all-nighter. Now she kept her eyes mostly closed against the cloudy day as she plodded together with the crowd of students leaving the school building, shivering as stray bursts of wind blew at her hair.

“Yuu?”

The familiar voice made her rub her eyes sleepily, glancing around. Jack was approaching her with his usual frown. It deepened when he saw her face.

“Jack,” Yuu greeted with a drowsy grin. “Are you headed to…why are you trembling?”

Indeed, Jack had his face scrunched up, shoulders shaking. She would have thought him angry, but instead he covered his face with a hand and put the other one up, turning away. “…Gimme a sec.”

“What? What’s wrong?” Yuu walked closer to peer up into his face, concerned. “Is there…are you _laughing_?”

Not prepared to have her so close to him, Jack couldn’t muffle a loud snort when he turned back in her direction. “ _Pfft._ Have you seen your face?”

“My face?”

“It’s… _pfft_ …Probably those two, Ace and Deuce,” he coughed a few times, finally managing to get his trembling under control. “They’ve drawn all over your cheeks.”

“Huh!?”

Jack, still intermittently shaking with what she now grasped to be his hard-to-understand way of concealing laughter, pulled out his smartphone and snapped a picture of her face to show her.

“Those two,” Yuu said darkly, peering over his arm at the screen. “I’ll get them later.”

Yuu’s slightly open-mouthed stare had been caricatured into full-out foolishness, as Ace had scribbled his name and a heart in red marker while her other cheek was dotted with clumsy shapes that vaguely resembled spades. Since her eyes were invisible behind her black hair, her entire visible face area was full of ‘decorations’ except the small nose. She looked like a clown.

“Where’s Grim?” Jack asked, still trying not to laugh as Yuu started scrubbing at her cheeks with a muttered _Scourgify_.

“He ran off when I said I was going to Savanaclaw, probably to Heartslabyul to bug Trey-senpai for food,” she explained, falling into step with him as she rubbed her sore cheeks. “Also, delete that picture please.”

“C’mon.” Jack tucked his phone away. “It’s too funny.”

“ _You_ come on,” Yuu frowned at him. “If you show Leona-senpai or Ruggie-senpai they’re never going to let me hear the end of it.”

“So showing other people is okay?”

“Jack!” Yuu whined.

Both of them were looking forward to the barbeque, and their high spirits placed a spring in their conversations even as Yuu tried to convince him to get rid of her embarrassing photo. Forget Ruggie or Leona. If Giraffe saw it, he might laugh himself into an aneurysm.

One Mirror trip later (with Yuu clinging to Jack), they were deposited by the entrance to Savanaclaw. Even several metres away from the door, Yuu’s human ears could easily gather the sounds of revelry and laughter and music emanating from within the dormitory. Jack’s much stronger appendages twitched incessantly. She wondered if Therianthropes got earaches more easily.

Jack inhaled something she couldn’t quite smell yet. “They’ve got everything. Are you up for food?”

“I slept through lunch,” Yuu said, her excitement waking her up better than anything else could, “so you bet I am.”

She only made it two steps into the Lounge before she was mobbed.

“Yuu-chan!” someone called, and then she was being showered with pats on the back. Her feet left the ground in the resulting crowd of Savanaclaw uniforms pressing on from all sides. A moment later Yuu was boosted up above the crowd, spluttering and blinking; she only realized that Bear had lifted her up onto his shoulder when she looked down at a multitude of grinning faces.

Jack retreated out of the crowd with a grimace and gave her a pitying glance. She didn’t have time to respond, though, as shouts flooded her ears.

“Hey Yuu-chan!”

“Yo! Hero!”

“You’re so late, the party started without you already.”

“Oh, shut up! Unlike you, Yuu-chan’s a model student.”

“Yeah right! As if someone who nearly got expelled on the first day of school’s a model student.”

“How’ve ya been? Heard _someone_ put you in the infirmary.”

“You mean Leona-senpai?” Yuu crossed her arms.

“Shh! Don’t say it like that!”

“Didn’t you and some other kids beat the tar out of him?”

Someone wolf whistled. “Our little pup’s all grown up!”

“He really did take down Leona-san’s plan!”

Scattered cheers followed that statement. “Does that mean you’re stronger than Leona-san?”

“ _What_!?” Yuu stared at Deer, the speaker, in horror. “Hell no! Do you know how hard it was for all of us to take him down? He’s the strongest person ever. Don’t even start.”

Everyone roared with laughter. “Is what he said, Leona-san,” Jackal called out. “Even with how disrespectful Yuu-chan is, guess he still knows what the pecking order looks like.”

Bear swung Yuu around so she could see Leona lying sleepily on one of the deck chairs laid out beside the indoor freshwater pool. His ears were low against his dark hair, brows furrowed in dissatisfaction. “All of you are so damn loud. I’m trying to take a nap.”

“Aww, come on,” Leopard’s voice called out. “After making us help you knock a bunch of kids down the stairs, the least you could do is be awake while you pay us back in meat!”

“I’m giving you food, aren’t I? You should be on your knees thanking me,” Leona glared in the direction of the voice, but didn’t make a move to stand.

“Leona-senpai,” Yuu hopped down from Bear’s shoulder with a muttered thanks and jogged over to him eagerly. “Thanks for redoing Ramshackle. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it yesterday.”

“What, it was just a housewarming gift,” he sat up with a yawn as she squeezed onto the deck chair, shifting him right a few inches. “Ruggie and the renovators did the work. I just ordered ‘em.”

“Money makes the world go ‘round,” Yuu quoted before she flung her arms around him. “I don’t care about your excuses. Seriously. Thank you.”

“Aww!” Giraffe called over. “Look at that. Aren’t they adorable?”

“Shoulda known Yuu-chan wouldn’t care even if our boss Over-whatever-ed,” someone else sighed.

“You were so worried that Yuu-chan wouldn’t come.”

“No I wasn’t!” Aardvark spluttered.

“It was really scary,” someone else mumbled. “I seriously don’t get how Yuu-chan can just go up to him like that.”

“That’s the reason he passed initiation, isn’t it?”

“But Leona-san’s got that…”

“Shut up before I make you.”

“Oi, let go of me,” Leona sighed, but he made no move to peel her off.

“Accept the thanks,” Yuu ignored him. “’Cause we’re friends now. Just so you know.”

He snorted. “Who the hell needs a troublesome friend like you?”

Though meat was the main dish, cornucopias of fruit and a few plates of vegetables were lined up buffet-style across the lounge on several groaning tables. Leona told her to go grab what she liked. She might have thought him in a bad mood, but even with the noise, he made no effort to get up from his chair and answered any visitors with grunts. Savanaclaw, it seemed, was full of _tsundere_ -attributes.

Jack was the first one to approach Leona after her, making a complicated expression before he greeted the Dorm Head with a few words and headed off to the fruit table. Yuu caught sight of him piling food up several inches high on his plate, avoiding approaching students, and left him to it. Lone wolf, indeed.

Savanaclaw’s students crowded around to talk with her often, some thanking her for helping to solve the mess of incidents that they’d been involved in last month, some asking her how on earth she managed to talk to Leona-san, some telling her with playful glares to watch her back ‘cause they were going to use her as a Magift disc again. The mood of the dormitory was a lot lighter than it had been weeks ago—if she wasn’t mistaken, they were just as glad they were done with the injuries as she was.

No one mentioned Leona’s Overblot out loud, though by now, Yuu had realised that they were more or less aware of his Unique Magic and the events of the day of the tournament. Even Riddle’s Overblot had leaked out to a few groups, who asked her subtly how she was still alive. Even so, overall, people seemed to like Leona more than they were afraid of him.

“See? They love you,” Yuu perched on the edge of the deck chair with a paper plate of food. “They _adore_ you.”

“Can’t you see I’m sleeping?” Leona slapped her in the side with his tail. “Stop bothering me, herbivore.”

“No you’re not,” she rolled her eyes; his ears were pointed in the direction of the festivities. “Want some ribs?”

“Take out the bones for me,” he ordered lazily.

Yuu mumbled something about princes thinking they could order other people to do whatever they liked. Leona retorted that she owed him for making her dorm liveable.

“Excuse me, I was the one who ordered the work to be done,” Ruggie said, approaching them from the direction of the kitchen as Yuu separated ribs from bone with a knife. “You should thank me, Yuu-kun.”

“Ruggie-senpai!” Yuu put the plate down on the side table between the deck chairs and flung her arms around him in a hug. “I was just getting cold because all of the leaks in the ceiling. Thanks a lot.”

“Whoa!” he took a step back to steady himself. “Now that’s a warm welcome. Maybe I should take charge of Leona-san’s wallet more often. _Shi shi shi_.”

“You already have it for most of the day,” Leona yawned. “Didn’t you order today’s food?”

“And cook it,” Ruggie hinted as he set Yuu back on the ground. “You’re welcome.”

“You’re getting paid, aren’t you?” Leona shot back.

“Want help?” Yuu asked, resuming her task of de-boning meat as Ruggie pulled the other deck chair closer.

“Nah. We’re mostly done.” The hyena Therianthrope sat with a sigh of relief, reaching forwards to snag a few grapes from her plate. “You still bandaged? When are those coming off?”

“Friday.” She stuck her meat-laden fork in Leona’s mouth, flexing her wrapped fingers. “Professor Crewel says it won’t even leave a scar.”

“Obviously,” Leona mumbled through his food. “As if I’d do something that stupid.”

“Better not,” muttered Ruggie, “else Leona-san would be hated even more than he already is. Or imprisoned for hurting women.”

“Wanna die?” He swallowed. “One more, herbivore.”

“Yuu-kun, I’d suggest _not_ starting to spoil this big baby,” Ruggie advised her as she obediently started de-boning another piece. “Give an inch and he’ll take a mile. Hell, sometimes he even makes me braid his hair in the mornings.”

She thought the image of Ruggie running around taking care of Leona hilariously reminiscent of a harried mother running after her children and told them so. Leona gave her a singular look of disgust.

“You know most of us are social creatures,” Ruggie rolled his eyes. “Hyena cackles are matriarchal, right? Better put away those human perceptions of gender roles before they bite you in the jugular.”

“Right,” Yuu nodded, chastened. “It’s the whole different world thing. I still haven’t been able to research Therianthropes to my liking yet.”

Ruggie, much more gregarious than the lethargic Leona, accompanied her on another few rounds of the buffet table—this guy stuffed down food as fast as people three times his size—while the latter disappeared upstairs, yawning. He was happy enough to tell her about the social roles back where he’d come from as they crowded around a low table to eat.

Therianthropes were generally more tactile than the average human. Yuu had noticed this, since neither Ruggie nor Leona seemed to care about her strengthening habit of sticking close to them. It was common for friends to sleep curled up in a huddle, especially during colder seasons, and fighting involved a lot of biting and tussling.

In particular, spotted hyenas often chewed on their friends and family (playfully and angrily) and valued their social structure highly. They were even more highly tactile than other students, and actively sought the formation of groups they could spend time together with.

“Back home we’ve got a ton of abandoned kids that band together,” Ruggie explained through a mouthful of steak. “We keep each other alive. ’Specially since the Afterglow Savannah tends to look at us like dung.”

“There’s discrimination everywhere, huh?” Yuu sipped at a cup of carbonated juice, feeling the fizz burst against the roof of her mouth with relish. “Good thing you met the only royalty in the country that doesn’t care who you are.”

“Yeah…” Ruggie stared into the distance. “I’m pretty damn lucky to be here. People still give me a look here and there, but once they see Leona-san they smarten up real quick.”

Jack joined them later in the afternoon to thank Ruggie for his work in making much of the food. Instead of accepting it, the hyena Therianthrope made a grimace and told her that Jack was _way_ too serious.

“The fruit salad was delicious,” Jack ignored him.

“Eat meat, you moron,” Ruggie rolled his eyes. “…Though you obviously don’t need to grow any bigger than you already are.”

Yuu scooted aside on her vacated deck chair to make room for him. “Hey Jack. Can I try one of those battered filets?”

Ruggie examined Jack as he patiently waited for Yuu to remove one of the filets of fish from his plate. “…For a lone wolf who hates hanging out with others,” he commented, “you don’t seem to mind sticking to Yuu-kun here.”

“I’m not sticking to him,” Jack said right away.

“I really like Jack,” Yuu told Ruggie in high spirits. The filet was excellent. “He’s one of the better people in this school, I think.”

“He hates people, you know,” Ruggie hinted.

“I don’t _hate_ people. I just dislike them.” Jack muttered through a mouthful of pear. “Where did we get this fruit-and-fish bowl?”

“Where do you think?” Ruggie gave him a significant glance. “But Yuu-kun, you sure have weird taste in friends. Those two troublemaking first-years and now this big lug.”

“And Ruggie-senpai,” Yuu said pointedly.

“Weird taste,” he repeated, showing her his teeth. “Careful I don’t start making you into a chew toy again.”

“I don’t think it’s very nice for upperclassmen to pick on their underclassmen so openly,” Jack said stiffly.

Ruggie gaped at him and then burst out laughing, nearly falling off his deck chair. “Greats…! Animal tamer! Yuu-kun! You!” he managed between gasps.

“You broke him,” Yuu told Jack as they watched Ruggie wheeze.

“…Why does everyone call you an animal tamer?” Jack wanted to know.

“The Headmaster mentioned it first for some reason. I like animals, but I’m definitely not strong enough to be a tamer of magical creatures all by myself,” Yuu shrugged. “Maybe it’s ‘cause Grim looks like a cat?”

“You li’l _dummy_ ,” Ruggie recovered somewhat, “it’s ’cause you manage to turn anyone into your ally.”

“I’m not his ally,” Jack snapped.

“Uh-huh,” Ruggie dismissed him, amused. “The instincts of a wolf are really good, huh? They know who to protect even if they don’t understand.”

Both Yuu and Jack stared at each other in askance, but the second year refused to divulge anything further on the subject, and the conversation moved on to lighter topics. Apparently Savanaclaw had not given up on May’s inter-league Magift championships and were in the process of revitalizing the Magift Club. It was quite gratifying to see that despite NRC’s reputation for being full of unpleasant people, they did not possess the good grace to surrender.

—

As the evening deepened over Savanaclaw’s dormitory, Yuu sleepily traversed Savanaclaw’s infinite staircase in search of Leona. Predictably, he was sprawled out across his bed lazily, playing solo chess while he read. The barest flick of an ear in her direction told her he was aware of her presence as Yuu pushed aside the curtain covering his door and went to sit by him.

“Hey,” she mumbled. “…How’ve you been doing?”

“None of your business.” He turned a page.

Yuu had been lax about seeing how Riddle was after his Overblot, so she was eager not to make the same mistake again. Not when the memory of that empty gaze, that roar that came from his suffering still echoed in her ears when she dreamed. It was easy to move on in theory—but whether Therianthrope or human or Merman, everyone was weaker than they liked to believe.

Leona glanced at her as she stared down at the topaz-topped Magical Pen sticking out of his jeans pocket. “…You should be more concerned about yourself. Who’s the one covered in bandages?”

“Physical damage is much more easily repaired than psychological damage,” Yuu said solemnly. “I still know next to nothing about Overblotting, but you nearly died. Sorry if I don’t believe anyone would just be ‘okay’ magically after the end of one, even if we did manage to snap you out of it.”

“Then let me tell you something,” Leona sat up and leaned against his pile of cushions. “By expelling unbelievably huge volumes of Blot, there’s this amazingly clear feeling you get afterwards. I haven’t felt this…clean…in a long time. So stop worrying uselessly.”

Indeed, Riddle had been curiously calm after his own Overblot. “Still dangerous,” Yuu said, unmoved.

“Don’t stick your undersized nose in places it doesn’t belong,” Leona growled, reaching forward to grab hold of it.

“Hey!” Yuu yelped, leaning forwards as he pulled. “Stob dat! You’ll pull id off!”

“You look ridiculous,” he snickered.

“Who’s de one making be! Led go!” she pulled herself free, rubbing the sore appendage sulkily. “And here I was going to thank you for putting my notebook back together. Jerk.”

“I didn’t do it for you,” Leona scoffed. “You’re coming up with a plan to make me king, aren’t you? Still waiting here.”

“Finally come around to the idea, huh?” Yuu grinned at him, scooting over and dumping her bag down on the covers. “If there’s anything we Ravenclaws are good at, it’s planning. Leave it to me, senpai.”

“Ravenclaws?” repeated Leona with a slow blink.

So Yuu explained Hogwart’s House system to Leona as well as the brief kinship she had felt towards Savanaclaw with the name likeness. When she got to the part detailing Ravenclaws’ emphasis on intelligence and wisdom, he barked out a laugh and told her there was a world of difference between the two.

“I figured that out the first time I bumped into you and you pretty much threatened me with my gender,” she rolled her eyes.

“Though…Ravens, huh?” Leona frowned thoughtfully. “…Maybe it’s not an accident you came here, herbivore.”

Talking with Leona was always interesting. The two of them theorised back and forth on the reason for her arrival into this world, though like everyone else, he was heavily suspicious of her claim of having come from a different world. “Do you know how difficult and against the law that is?” was his first reaction, followed by “if someone really brought you here, you’re probably screwed already.”

Even up this high in the building, the open windows and doors of Savanaclaw allowed easy hearing of the festivities still going on full swing as people returned from club activities and flew out the window on broomsticks to play air Magift. Yuu commented something about how the weather here was always nice, whereupon Leona told her Crowley was in charge of the temperature controls and had a team of helpers. Something about convincing Fairies to help with containment of elemental heat?

An impromptu game of chess later (in which she was once again beaten at the end of a long struggle), Leona squinted at her from across the board and abruptly pushed it aside. “…I’ve been meaning to ask you. What’s with your magic?”

“Ahh!” Yuu tried to save the pieces from tipping over. “I’m trying to figure out when you gained the advantage, wait a second!”

“I’ve memorized it,” he mercilessly knocked them askew. “I’ll teach you later. Tell me about that huge…whatever you call your magic.”

In this area, Leona and her were much alike. They were always looking for information. However, unlike Yuu, Leona used all of his knowledge to be as lazy as he could (and sometimes make others suffer) where she wanted to learn for learning’s sake. Still, being the oldest student in this school and having earned her trust, Yuu did not hesitate to pull out her wand and ask him what he wanted to know.

“Why are you so against using it openly?” was his first question. “Isn’t it your best weapon? I can understand trying to hide it at first, ’specially when you’ve got no heads nor tails about this messed up place they call a school. But Crowley knows, doesn’t he?”

She nodded. “Rosehearts-senpai knows too, along with Trey-senpai, Cater-senpai and Ace and Deuce. After that, you and Ruggie-senpai and Jack figured out.”

“…And perhaps those three interlopers from Diasomnia,” Leona murmured quietly. “Or did they leave before?”

“What?”

“So what’s with your insistence on keeping it hushed up? Other than the law. You’re in another world. If I were you I’d make sure no one ever messed with me again.”

“Good thing you aren’t me then.” Yuu shrugged. “I don’t care to reveal it. There’s no reason I should.”

“There are a _ton_ of reasons you should.”

“I don’t want to,” she said with finality. “First of all, I’m okay with going through life without using magic necessarily, since I didn’t know anything about it until I was eleven. Which I told you and Ruggie-senpai already way back in the infirmary.”

“…Sounds like hell.”

“Careful, your prejudices are leaking,” Yuu sang. She would never admit that he was sort of right. “Secondly, my magic has been sort of weird lately. I don’t want to say this, but there might be problems with using such an alien force in a world where my magic doesn’t exist.”

“Like what?” Now he was interested. Leona’s tail thumped quickly against a nearby cushion as he leaned forwards.

The examples she could list quickly were how her _Episkey_ had failed on Trey’s ankle and how Leona had burst through her Stunner and Full Body-Bind so easily. Yuu wasn’t a bad Curse-caster—they were, after all, a form of Charm—so that second one had shaken her.

“And there weren’t any resources in the library, either,” she finished with a sigh.

“Ha. That place is full of restricted materials only teachers can access,” Leona dismissed with a snort. “Don’t expect to get anything useful from that place. …I’ve told you how I’m good with defensive magic, haven’t I?”

“Yeah, but you’re good at everything,” Yuu shrugged.

“Flattery will get you nowhere.” He was still grinning as he scrubbed her hair with a gloved hand. “…Now this is an interesting puzzle. We didn’t have time to really think about it then, but it was pretty easy to break your spell or whatever you call it even without me casting defensive magic ahead of time. If I’m right, your magic in itself is so alien to ours that they recognize each other as ‘hostile’.”

“What do you mean?” she frowned.

“…The Queen has casted his Unique Magic on you before, right?” Leona changed topics abruptly. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” Yuu responded willingly enough.

“Not even the collar appeared?”

“Nope.”

“More evidence,” he leaned back, satisfied. “That’s not the usual effect. Something’s blocking the spell from casting physically on you, even if you don’t have magic. Herbivore, if you cast a spell at me and I countered it fast enough, I’m almost certain it would cause a violent reaction. In the first place, our magical energy and your magic are both forces not totally understood.”

“We know this already,” Yuu pointed out, “when we fought during your Overblot, your spells countered mine.”

“ _But_ ,” he continued, “it seems like our magic is weak when cast on you and yours weak when cast on us. Your ‘curse’ or whatever was probably far weaker than its intended effect when you cast it on me—and even the magical collar couldn’t form around your neck when the Queen cast. I don’t like him, but that guy’s magical power is nothing to scoff at.”

“Oh,” Yuu realised with a start as she followed his thinking pattern. “Trey-senpai is good at defensive magic too. So you’re saying we both sort of repel each other’s magic? Which is why I couldn’t heal his ankle?”

“It’s just a hypothesis. Nothing concrete.” Leona looked like he was in his element as he thought. “…It seems that your magic is being recognized as ‘foreign’ to this world, herbivore. Weren’t you trying to get home? That’s as much of a clue as I’ve seen.”

“Leona-senpai you are a _genius_ ,” Yuu gasped as she got it, scooting up to him. “Keep using magic. A lot. The more powerful the spells are, the better.”

“It’s just one possibility, so don’t take my word for it,” he warned her. “And there’s the whole difference between physical spells and spells affecting the psyche. Ruggie’s Unique Magic cast on you so easily that there has got to be another side to it. Come to think of it, you’ve got absolutely no magical tolerance or resistance…so even if you have some ‘foreign matter’ to you that repels it, spells are still going to affect you strongly when they succeed.”

“…I still don’t want to use magic in the open,” Yuu frowned. “The people who know are luckily people who I’ve decided to trust with it. They won’t tell others.”

“Trust in this school is foolish.”

“Being deceived is better than being mistrustful, especially for peace of mind,” she shrugged. “And I have made the decision to trust them because I think they deserve it. There are a lot of really terrible powerful spells. I don’t want any knowledge to go leaking out any more than it has, against the law or not. Just being here is bad enough to get me stuck in my Ministry as a highly dangerous subject for life when I return.”

“You think pretty far ahead, huh?” Leona seemed impressed. “Seeing the big picture isn’t bad for a little herbivore like you. You’d die instead of revealing your magic to the wrong person?”

“That’s right,” she nodded, “because I could prevent catastrophic destruction by hiding it. So I’m going to continue not to use it unless I absolutely have to.”

“Stupidly serious people get white hairs early,” he cautioned her. “And the ‘greater good’ thing makes me sick.”

“Who cares what colour my hair is,” she swatted at his reaching glove grumpily. “Also if you guys get in trouble because of my messing with time-space I’d be really unhappy with myself. End of conversation.”

“Trusting _me_ especially is a really bad idea,” he ignored her. “You really okay with letting me know all this? What if I go behind your back and—”

“You won’t,” she said with certainty.

“Oi. Don’t interrupt me.”

“I told you already,” she ignored him. “Trust isn’t always some blind, foolish emotion. It’s a decision I made when weighing pros and cons carefully. Sure, I really like you, but my trust in you is based on that cunning and mean personality of yours and it’s my _decision_ , not an emotion. Plus, you wouldn’t tell anyone without getting every last benefit you could from me first.”

“…As long as you know that,” he sighed. “You’re still way too defenceless around people you like.”

Unlike Crowley, who Yuu felt herself _wanting_ to trust despite being sure she should not, Leona was someone who she was almost sure trusting was the best idea. First of all, he knew probably ten times the information he was sharing with her—she didn’t doubt he had his own theories about her magic that he refused to speak about. Using his vast resources, including whatever information networks he had access to as a prince of a country, he could have long since done much more to harm her than he had. But Leona was not one to make rash decisions even if he could Overblot with his emotional baggage.

So Yuu trusted him intentionally. Not because she had to—but because it was probably better to have this person on her side.

It was the same way that she trusted Ruggie, who showed up after dusk carrying Leona’s laundry and complaining about wrinkles. Both of them were especially cunning and able to cause harm, and both of them instead sandwiched her between them as Yuu asked about Therianthropes and Mermen and Fairies (though the last one made Leona’s mood sink a great deal).

It was not that they lacked innate charisma, of which Leona practically overflowed with, or social skill, which Ruggie had learned multiple animal languages just to heighten. It wasn’t even the open goodwill that they had begun displaying to her ever since the Overblot. Sure, those made it easy to trust them, but it also made no sense _not_ to. Perhaps Trey had been right when he’d said she moved from thought to action quickly. Once she had decided to trust someone, that was the end of it.

Yuu was so excited to listen to their perspectives on species diversity that she exhausted herself past a reasonable threshold and burned out quickly. She’d already been so tired that day, and as interesting as the topic was, her eyes would not stay open.

“Inter-species marriages and relationships used to be rare, but now they’re pretty common…well, outside of the palace where this guy lives,” Ruggie was explaining as Yuu stifled another yawn. “So there’s no such thing as prejudice fundamentally preventing understanding between species _everywhere_.”

“So? None of them really know the depth of how different they are,” Leona scoffed. “Listen, herbivore. I’m not gonna mention those Fey bastards, but Mermen and Therianthropes grow up already disliking humans and considering them beneath them. I’ve never even seen a non-Therianthrope in my palace.”

“Royalty. …But Yuu-kun, you’ve gotten yourself accepted into Savanaclaw and everyone living here even without asking all these questions,” Ruggie pointed out.

Yuu blinked sleepily. “I’m accepted?”

“They _love_ you,” Leona rolled his eyes as he mimicked her earlier words to him.

“To an annoying extent.” Ruggie’s grin was unfriendly. “After they punched you. Pretty thick-skinned of ‘em, no? I still need ta pay ‘em back for that.”

“Anyway, relationships between people get worse the more you think about them,” Leona advised her with a yawn. “You’ve gotten this far without tiptoeing around the issues of species. It’s pretty late now to start worrying.”

“No one thinks as much as you do, so just act however you want with whatever species you want,” Ruggie agreed. “And come to us if you get in trouble. I can help you…for a fee. _Shi shi shi._ ”

“Oi, who’s ‘us’?”

“Leona-san, are you really going to leave a young and impressionable girl all alone when she needs help?” Ruggie batted his eyes over her head.

“You guys are so good at telling things even when I don’t say it,” Yuu grinned. “How did you know I was worried or thinking too much or whatever?”

“’Cause I’ve got training in these kinds of things,” Leona shrugged.

“’Cause you’re easy to read for us Therianthropes,” Ruggie added.

“Either way, sometimes doing nothing is good, but remember that events don’t move forward when you stall,” finished the former. “Eventually it’s in your best interest to make a move. Whether that’s a good decision or not, it still beats staying still. Like in chess.”

“…You’re right,” Yuu nodded in surprise. “Like in chess. Leona-senpai, you give really good advice for things.”

“Who do you think I am?” he knocked her in the forehead. “Now go take a shower before you fall asleep. Ruggie put your stuff in the washroom already and your room’s been cleaned. It’s getting late…time to knock some sense into those bastards. Ruggie.”

“Gotcha.” The hyena Therianthrope hopped off the bed and directed Yuu towards Leona’s huge washroom. “Someone musta spiked the punch or something if no one’s made it up here yet. Yuu-kun, the top rack above the bathtub has shampoo and all sorts of girly stuff I don’t get. Don’t fall asleep in there.”

“’Kay,” she mumbled, shuffling towards the washroom.

It was only after a long soak and changing into Ruggie’s old set of clothes that Yuu realised that she should have been heading back to Ramshackle that evening. By that time, though, she was already in the small room she’d stayed in before, tucked under its freshly cleaned comforter and too sleepy to move.

 _They got me_ , she thought, a little angry at herself. Leona and Ruggie both had one similarity in that they tended to pull moves like this when the opponent was least wary. That cunning nature was unique to Savanaclaw and she kind of disliked that she’d let herself be tricked so easily. First Trey, now them…

But they were right. Talking with Leona and Ruggie had cleared up much of the unsatisfied feelings that had been swimming around her stomach since her fight with Floyd. Though it was in her nature to think, Yuu had allowed herself to be affected unduly by Jade’s words.

He might have been correct—might have displayed the truth of the gap between her and them—but she was tired of being at odds with his brother and of it affecting her so much. Action was better than inaction, Leona had said. Crewel had told her not to think too much. Savanaclaw’s students accepted her without question, according to Ruggie.

Perhaps she would never be friends with Floyd, but she was done meandering. It had always felt better for Yuu to move forward the way she wanted to. And if that made her selfish and evil, then so be it.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
>  **Edited |** January 10th, 2021 for clarity and minor details.
> 
> —
> 
>  **Important note |** Chapters 1 through 13 have been edited for details, grammar, spelling, and things revealed in Episode 5's third part as well as the Magical Archives. Please continue to let me know via comment or Twitter DM if you find any discrepancies. Thank you for your patience! Those who have downloaded PDFs of this story might want to redownload the newest version.
> 
> —
> 
> With the completion of reading this chapter, you have finished the first three books of the Harry Potter septet if you look at the word count! (And then some.)
> 
> —
> 
> **Definitions |**
> 
> _pistol shrimp (テッポウエビ科, teppou-ebi ka/gun shrimp family)_ | a kind of shrimp (not the mantis shrimp) that has a modified pincer that fits into an arm socket (like a human arm fits into the shoulder). This socket makes cavitation bubbles when the pincer shuts in assault, which means an extremely high-pressure jet of water shoots out of the tiny space between the pincer and its socket, giving the attack more force. The burst is so strong it makes a loud CRACK sound, emits heat and light close to the temperature of the _sun_ , and makes the pistol shrimp a formidable marine enemy. Floyd calls Yuu this when she attacks him. Pistol shrimps are very small, by the way—as short as the length of your pinky finger!
> 
>  _clicking one’s tongue (舌打ち)_ | the signature “tch” or “tsk” noise used so much in Japanese media. Actually, clicking one’s tongue in Japan is really rude—much ruder than it is in Western societies—and demonstrates a lack of manners/upbringing/consideration. It’s something that delinquents or yakuza do with aplomb, though that’s also a stereotype. Mostly a masculine thing and done when the user is in a terrible mood or is just really rude.
> 
>  _ne (ね)_ | an interjection carrying the meaning of ‘right’? or seeking approval/agreement. Cater uses it a lot and sometimes repeatedly.
> 
> —
> 
> As the year ends, I would like to borrow this space to thank you all as always for your fantastic comments and the amount of attention you give this humble story. I never at all expected it to have so many readers… But, the feeling that something I’ve written is being received by so many people so positively is—truly incomparable. I have nothing but gratitude for all of you. Thank you again, a thousand times! Please continue to stick with me and this story throughout 2021 as it starts to get into the _really_ interesting bits!! (Along with the parts I’ve been dying to write!!!)
> 
> The next chapter will be posted on Tsuno-tarou's birthday (January 18th). Please look forward to it!
> 
> Please leave a comment below and let me know what you thought of this chapter 💕 And have a happy happy new year! 🎊
> 
> —


	15. Symbiosis.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuu is exposed to the full force of Floyd’s volatile temper. Meanwhile, she makes good on her decision to continue using her magic, with Leona’s help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
> Happy birthday, Malleus! 🐉 Although you’ve seen uncountable birthdays pass before you, wishing a joyful day surrounded by friends and family.
> 
> —

—

The students of Octavinelle did not find physical activity to their liking, an opinion shared heartily with Yuu, who was unfortunately surrounded with Magift-crazy Savanaclaw students and physically able Heartslabyul students that could not understand her aversion. According to Professor Vargas—Coach Vargas, as he insisted—Yuu herself was cursed by a sad lack of proper nutrition that was blocking the way to the discovery of her true potential. Perhaps this was valid (though doubtful), but she was also content to let that sleeping potential lie.

Octavinelle as a whole, however, universally loathed physically taxing classes at NRC regardless of their size or capability.

“So why do you guys hate Flight class so much, then?” Yuu asked eagerly as she wiped the kitchen counter with a wet cloth. “And physical exercise in general.”

“Directing Student, you know we’re only temporarily in this human form, right?” one of the dishwashers called back as he soaped bowls.

Yuu made a noise of acknowledgement. “Ashengrotto-senpai told me you all drink a potion or something once you get accepted.”

“That’s right,” a quieter staff member continued the explanation as he passed her a cleaner rag in return for her dirty one. “Potions that alter physical features are actually against the law to consume, so there’s a special license the school has that allows us to take them. And they don’t last longer than a semester or so. More importantly, almost none of us have ever left the Coral Sea—the country we’re from—before we were called to the school.”

Mostro Lounge had many students who came in and out during busy seasons to earn a day’s worth of temporary salaries, but regulars were much fewer in number. All of them, by now, had gotten used to Yuu’s insistent questioning about the school, their dorm, Mermen in general, and sundry topics. Her questioning seemed to amuse them enough for answers she was reasonably sure were accurate.

The tallest waiter ducked in from the direction of the Lounge hall. “Okay, chumps, we’ve officially closed for the night. Just clean-up left!”

“Finally,” groaned the dishwasher, “My hands are gonna fall off if I get any more dishes.”

“Just use magic, you buffoon.”

“I don’t have that kind of control yet!” he cleared his throat. “Anyway, Directing Student, since we’ve only been out of water and on Land for two years at the most, none of us are really used to walking on two legs. That’s all there is to it.”

“Octa’s not so high on the Magift tournament rankings,” the tall one nodded sagely. “I’ve yet to find a single Merman who can run at the average jogging speed of humans…let alone fly on a broomstick.”

“Horrible invention, that,” the quiet one muttered.

“You are _so_ right,” Yuu nodded with feeling.

“Huh? Directing Student, aren’t you magicless?” the tall one squinted at her. “How’d you figure flying sucks? What, someone taken you for a ride-along or something?”

“Lots of someones,” she said weakly. “I don’t like physical education classes in the first place, but careening into the air without a failsafe is just not okay.”

“Agreed,” dishwasher nodded.

“Agreed,” the quiet one said solemnly.

“Agreed,” the tall one sighed. “Did you know last week, I was so nervous holding my broom that I snapped it in half and had to clean the storage room as punishment? This is why none of us like Vargas.”

“Snapped it in _half_?” Yuu yelped. “Isn’t that thing enchanted? I thought you guys didn’t like strength training!”

“Are you kidding me? The average grip strength of a Merman outdoes that of a human by like a magnitude of two,” Dishwasher gave her a condescending look. “We’re way stronger than a skinny brat like you.”

“We just don’t like Land exercise,” the quiet one explained. “But if you were to race us in anything underwater, we’d leave you in the dust.”

“I’d drown before I could race you anywhere,” Yuu pointed out.

“Plus, we outpace humans in thinking speed, lifespan, beauty…” The dishwasher shrugged and gave her an unpleasant grin. “Feel sorry for _yourself_ , buddy. ’Specially since you got trapped in a place like this by that scary Dorm Head of ours.”

“You know, I was the one who requested to work here,” Yuu told him.

“Are you _insane_?” Everyone in the kitchen shouted simultaneously.

“No. I’m poor,” she quipped, unsurprised. After Heartslabyul’s shocked reaction, nothing could faze her anymore.

“Damn,” whistled the tall one, “Even a dumb pipsqueak like you is trying desperately to survive in the great big sea of NRC, huh?”

“There’s struggling and then there’s suicidal,” the quiet one looked pale. “Why would you swim straight in front of someone like _Azul Ashengrotto_ in your pathetic state? Even a non-magical human like you should be able to tell he’s the one person in this school you stay the hell away from.”

“Don’t you guys like your Dorm Head?” Yuu blinked.

“Are you kidding me?” a passing waiter yelped as he shed his coat on his way in. “That guy who’d cheat you out of your last penny and laugh as you starved to death?”

“That guy who gets his kicks seeing others suffer?”

“He orders those two scary Leech twins around like it’s nothing!”

The vehement response surprised her. “…He’s your Dorm Head, though. Doesn’t he take care of you guys?”

“As his _job_. That doesn’t mean much around here,” the quiet one shook his head. “It just means that he’s smarter than we are, more capable. Ashengrotto knows how to talk circles around anyone, even the Headmaster.”

“Sure, he’s smart and never seems to struggle with doing anything, but that just makes him even more shady-looking.”

“I respect him,” the tall one crossed his arms as he put away the extra flour and picked up a mop, “…I mean, no one here is stupid enough _not_ to respect him.”

“That’s why we stay the hell outta his way,” dishwasher finished, wiping his hands. “And he’ll stay out of ours. These are the unwritten rules of the ocean, kid.”

“Too late for you, though!” the tall one finished. They all laughed.

Yuu had seen Azul, Floyd and Jade speak civilly enough with the rest of the workers at Mostro Lounge. She’d heard them laugh together, partner for work, even praise one another for a job well done. There was nevertheless a world of difference between Savanclaw’s law of the jungle and Octavinelle’s law of the ocean.

Somehow, Yuu didn’t think Azul would be the least bit surprised that his dorm students talked behind his back this way. Or that he would care like Leona pretended not to.

Azul had created his perfect world already. The outside rabble was worth less to him than chaff.

—

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN | Symbiosis.**

—

Unlike Mermen, who were apparently so strong against the cold that they wore nothing but T-shirts during outside classes in winter, Yuu was not gifted with weather resistance. On days when she had shifts in the Mostro Lounge, Grim was also not present to be a furry guard around her neck. So leaving the building after dark, even with the protection of the glass dome against the sea, sent her shivering.

After her sleepover at Savanaclaw, Jack, who Yuu was starting to regard as NRC’s one and only refuge of goodness (or maybe it was the ears and tail), had shoved a bundle into her arms that morning as they got sleepily ready for class. He grumbled something about having grown out of it and having no use for an undersized coat, but the fabric of the bundle was thick and warm. Yuu draped the huge coat across her shoulders that day in high spirits and zipped it up all the way now, feeling the soft material guard her against the bone-freezing chill.

Octavinelle, unlike Savanaclaw, was _cold_ at night. Large bodies of water dragged the temperature down even with Crowley’s temperature moderation measures.

Yuu flapped the sleeves with a silly smile. It was the first time she’d worn such a nice coat. Jack was much larger than her, so it hung all the way down past her knees and over her shoulders to cover her hands completely, but even in Hogwarts she’d been stuck with her second-hand robes and whatever cast-me-downs were on sale in Diagon Alley during the before-school rush, so she couldn’t be more satisfied with it.

During school that day, Yuu had bragged about the coat to Ace and Deuce before they both started lecturing her about not staying over at places like Savanaclaw even if she’d ‘tamed them’. Grim, who had stayed over at Heartslabyul and prevented them from sleeping properly, was similarly unhappy with her. Yuu wondered why. It had taken her all day to get their mood back up.

Maybe she could stop by Mister S’s Mystery Shop on the way back and get Grim a tuna can?

Mostro Lounge, contained within the bones of an enormous deep-sea fish, was lit brightly from the inside, giving it the illusion of a ghostly life flickering within. When Yuu stretched her tired limbs, taking big steps out from the jaw of the fish, she was able to see the structure more clearly as it reached back and disappeared among the carved-out octopus limbs leading past the back of the dormitory building. A wavy dorsal fin ran the length of the top of the construction, casting shadows across her face. The nearby illumination from a pearl gleaming within an oyster gave the fishbone building an eerie glow.

Like everything about this dorm, it was beautiful in a haunting way.

Yuu was just admiring how well the building had been created (or was it truly made out of the remains of a living beast?) when something on top of its snout caught her attention. For a moment, she thought it might have been a piece of seaweed floating by—but a stray moonbeam pierced the clouds and glass dome, illuminating Floyd Leech lying lazily on his back stretched out along the bone.

She seriously considered leaving. Yuu was tired and she didn’t want to catch his attention if it meant more trouble.

_Eventually it’s in your best interest to make a move._

Leona’s words ran through her mind, pausing her feet. And it was not wise, not Ravenclaw—not in her nature to let things drag on. Plus, as much as Azul was persistent, he was right. Eventually she was going to have to deal with Floyd.

“Carpe noctem, I guess?” Yuu muttered to herself, circling around the side.

Thanks to the uneven ruggedness to the bone structure of Mostro Lounge’s exterior, Yuu was able to find purchase behind the eye socket and start hauling herself up. It still took her a good ten minutes to manage to reach the top of the fish snout. Cheeks pink from exertion and the cold and breathing heavily, she dragged herself the last metre up via a decoration on the fishbone’s forehead, wincing at the pressure on her still-injured fingers and arms, and collapsed by where Floyd had been watching her ascent with blank eyes.

“…What the hell’re you doing here?” he asked none-too-politely.

Yuu held up a hand, trying to catch her breath. And here she’d thought she’d gained some endurance from her physical education classes.

“If Azul made you come up here, I’m not gonna listen,” Floyd continued as she pulled the zipper down on her jacket and sucked in lungfuls of air. “’Cause I have no plans to make nice with some shrimp like you.”

“Not…” she managed, “…senpai.”

“How is a creature this weak? Ugh. Just looking at you makes me wanna…” when she looked up, Floyd was glaring in her direction, flexing his fingers. “Get lost, Koebi-chan. I don’t wanna talk to you right now.”

Yuu shed her schoolbag and set it down beside her. “I don’t want to talk to you either, senpai. But sorry, I’m not going to leave.”

“Hu~h? What a pain in the ass. I could throw you off the roof right now and you’d get even more injured than you already are.”

“I don’t know why you’re always so irritated around me,” Yuu sighed. She reached around in her bag. “Are you hungry or something? Here, have this.”

Floyd went still as Yuu fished out a pack of mints and shoved it into his opening and clenching palm. Sam had given it to her, way back before she fell from the stairs in October, as an extra, but Yuu had left it in her bag and completely forgotten about it until now.

Grim was always grumpy when he was hungry. Perhaps Mermen were the same?

When there was no response, she peered tentatively up into his face. “Don’t like mints? You can throw them out if you really—”

“Hey, Koebi-chan,” Floyd said abruptly. “Aren’t you scared of me?”

She blinked several times at the non sequitur. “Of course I’m scared of you, senpai.”

He hadn’t been expecting that answer. Floyd pushed himself upright, crossing his legs loosely as he gaped at her. “…Then why do you challenge me all the time? You like getting strangled or something?”

“No way,” Yuu shook her head. “Then let me ask. Why do you pick fights with me all the time?”

“’Cause you’re irritating.”

“And why am I irritating?”

“Because of that,” he exploded, “because you’re always meeting me head-on. You look me straight in the eye when you talk to me. When you’re just a tiny shrimp whose shoulder is as big as my palm.”

“So you want me to be all quiet around you?” She asked, knowing the answer.

“No~,” Floyd leaned down and smiled unpleasantly at her, “I want you to understand that you’re at the very bottom here. Unlike Azul, you don’t have the abilities or the kind of resilience that’s gonna flip the tables around.”

“You sure like to emphasize how weak and small I am,” Yuu remarked. “Is it really such a big deal?”

Floyd popped open the pack of mints and flicked one into his mouth. “If you had been born in the ocean, you’d have died before you learned how to talk.”

According to Floyd, both he and his brother had been among one of countless siblings born to his parents—and at the end of what Yuu was suspicious was a violent battle royale, they were the only two to still be alive this day.

It was nothing unusual in the ocean for siblings to be pitted against each other for survival, and there was a similar consideration of ‘power above all else’ like Savanaclaw and the Afterglow Savannah espoused. Unlike the Afterglow Savannah, however, Mermen from the Coral Sea were not nearly as social—not nearly as picky about the idea of ‘pack’.

Death was simple and inevitable. The darkness of the ocean swallowed up any corpses without fail, brother or not.

And it didn’t matter.

“Unlike us,” Floyd drawled, tossing another mint in his mouth, “you’re not on the side of the victors. You’re the hunted. The prey. So weak it isn’t even funny. Seeing you act so stupidly calm when you could die any second pisses me off.”

Yuu had been listening quietly to him speak. Floyd didn’t express his thoughts the same way as most other people she knew—his sentences were disjointed, quick, hard to follow. But the more she listened the more she understood what Jade meant when he’d said his brother was a ‘genius’. Because Floyd, behind his lax expression and messy uniform, was thinking far deeper than anyone gave him credit for.

“No one cares about the weak,” he told her with the moonlight glowing in his cold eyes. “So you have to fend for yourself. Or else when you die, you’ll die alone. Someone who’s like Koebi-chan is bound to disappear into the ocean one day and no one’s ever gonna know. And people are supposed to resist that. Unlike you…who just…stands there.”

“How do you know so much about me?” Yuu asked, impressed. “We’ve only seen each other during shifts.”

“Everything shows up on your face.” Floyd crunched another mint tablet between those sharp teeth. They gleamed with light from the building and the night sky distorted past the ocean. “And I’m on the side of the hunters, remember? We’re good at reading our prey.”

“I don’t know much about myself,” Yuu told him. “Recently, I’ve learned…my friends have told me that I don’t pay attention to myself. Neither do I care about myself, not that much.”

Floyd blinked those emotionless eyes at her.

Those cold eyes again. Inhuman. Instead of feeling that spike of uneasiness, though, now Yuu found it almost refreshing that someone was regarding her with so little warmth. No matter what she said to Floyd, he probably wouldn’t care. It was a liberating sensation.

Before, she’d found that Leona didn’t really care about people, nor did Ruggie. Yuu amended her considerations—the person who truly couldn’t care less in this school was probably Floyd Leech.

The air felt much less stuffy around him. Like the cold burst of a mint on her tongue.

“I don’t understand relationships either,” she continued, scooting up to him as he crunched another mint. “Neither do I think I’m fit for making friends. You see, I’ve always been alone. Before I came here, I was just moving along, trying to live without knowing why I was living.”

“So?” Floyd looked bored.

“You say I’m not the same as you. That I’m weak, and that I don’t know my place.” Yuu ticked the points off on her fingers. “And it frustrates you that I act like this, that I don’t care. So much that you want to strangle me. Right?”

“Not my fault you’re weak,” Floyd said petulantly, eating another mint. “I swear every time, I barely touch you and you nearly die.”

“Okay, maybe I am like tissue paper compared to you,” she shrugged. “Now let me tell you what I think about all that. Which is: don’t fricking screw with me.”

“…Aah?”

“You heard me.” Yuu met him squarely in the eyes again, the same way he said he hated. “I don’t know what it is about you Mermen that you think of humans as some kind of physically and mentally inferior species. I don’t know what you’re seeing through me, but I’m not the weak kind of person you seem to be so sure I am.”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” Floyd spat, meeting her frown with his unhinged glare. “That stupid recklessness—”

“It’s _not_. Sure, I’ll die earlier than you…maybe. Sure, I’m not as durable or strong. In the first place, it’s none of your business—and second of all, _don’t underestimate me_.” Yuu lifted her chin and smirked at him. “As expected of someone from the merciful dormitory Octavinelle. Should I thank you for paying all this attention to someone as insignificant as me? But honestly, I don’t need it.”

“A _ha_ ,” Floyd tossed the pack of mints to the side and seized her by her coat collar as the tin clattered against bone, “after all, it doesn’t get simpler than the fact that you piss me off, Koebi-chan.”

“You too, with your tendency to resort to violence for no reason,” she shot back as he dragged her all the way up to his nose. “What? Gonna punch me again, strangle me again? Go for it. I dare you.”

“You always say stuff like that so calmly, but you know how stupid it is to instigate someone like me,” Floyd narrowed his eyes. The yellow of his right one glowed briefly. “You said you were afraid of me. So back down, small fish.”

“I don’t know how you perceive it,” Yuu didn’t waver, “but fear isn’t the end of anything. So what if I’m afraid of you? That’s just my instincts telling me you can be dangerous. There are far more important priorities than running away with my proverbial tail behind my legs because you’re throwing a tantrum.”

“No one—talks to me—like that,” Floyd gritted, crushing her in his grip.

“I—just—did,” Yuu retorted. They tipped over onto the cold surface of the fish snout, tussling.

Floyd’s arm strength really was nothing to scoff at. Yuu thought she could _hear_ her bones creak under the pressure as she tried to fight him off her and he trapped her limbs in a killer squeeze.

“Damn it—let me—go,” Yuu gasped out, gritting her teeth against the pain. “I’ll bite you.”

“You’re so impertinent I should just eat you and be done with it,” Floyd got in her face with his deranged smile wide and ecstatic. He was much more alive now than he had been when she’d first seen him so motionless on the roof. “I don’t know why I bothered holding back. A _ha_! This is so much more fun!”

This person really might be a little off his rocker if he was _this_ thrilled whenever he fought with her. This eager to damage her. But as his mood lightened, he pulled hers with it. Perhaps this was a sign that Yuu herself was not as mentally stable as she liked to believe. This world must be getting to her—a year ago, in Hogwarts, Yuu would have never even tried to stand up to someone like Floyd Leech.

But Floyd looked on the edge of murdering her and she didn’t _care_. Even as she struggled in his four-limbed grip and tried not to fall off the roof, Yuu found herself gaining enough confidence to return his unpleasant grin before she leaned forwards and bit him in the shoulder, her teeth her only weapon. The fabric of his uniform was cold against her mouth.

There was a second of shocked silence. Then, Floyd’s loud laughter was ringing across the roof and floating off into the distance. Simultaneously, his grip tightened around her locked arms past reasonable tolerance levels and destroyed any semblance of her advantage.

“Arms,” Yuu gasped out between his bursts of laughter. “Gonna break. Arms.”

“Koebi-chan you,” Floyd gasped, “your _teeth are so small_! I can’t breathe!”

“Me neither so if you would kindly let me go!”

“This is too good, frickin’ hell,” he rolled over onto his back, taking her with him. “You’re unbelievable.”

“You’re the unbelievable one! My bones are gonna snap!”

“Can’t believe someone like you even exists on this universe. Are you just that special? Or are you stupid?”

“ _Ow_ ,” she wheezed.

Floyd eventually noticed that she’d stopped struggling out of excessive pain. He loosened his grip. “I didn’t even put in that much power,” he sounded bemused, staring at the lump lying motionlessly on top of him. “…O~i. Koebi-chan. Did you die? It’d be seriously ironic if I just killed you.”

“I’m alive you jerkbag,” Yuu managed into the blazer of his school uniform. “Just in agony.”

“You were asking for it,” Floyd said unrepentantly. But to her surprise, he lifted her up beneath the armpits as he sat up again and put her down beside him without further strangling.

Yuu rubbed at her upper arms ruefully. “Mermen really don’t know their own strength,” she said weakly. More bruising. If Crewel noticed, he might have an apoplexy. The way veins bulged against the science instructor’s temple when he was angry could not be healthy.

“Fun fact,” Floyd said cheerfully, leaning back on his elbows, “Azul’s squeezing is stronger than both me _and_ Jade.”

“What? You’re kidding me.” Yuu turned and gaped at him in disbelief.

“Nuh-uh. We might be faster and stuff, but if he really wants to, he can stop us from fighting with each other like _that_.” Floyd snapped his fingers for emphasis. The light of cheer was back in his eyes, an expression she had not seen for what seemed like forever. When the corners of his eyes curved down in good humour, all signs of the ‘predator’ who had nearly just strangled her to death disappeared into seafoam.

So this was what they meant when people said Floyd’s temper was capricious.

“You always look so happy when you talk about them,” Yuu commented, undoing Jack’s coat all the way and draping it across her shoulders like a mantle. The brief scuffle had banished what remained of the cold from her body.

“That so~?” Floyd shrugged. “We’ve known each other since elementary school or somethin’. Azul’s really interesting, you know? He’s got the means _and_ the drive to fight back. Not weak like you.”

“We’ve established that already,” sighed Yuu. She picked up the box of mints with her still-bandaged fingers and offered it to him again.

Floyd took it easily this time. He also considered her with thoughtfully narrowed eyes. “Did Jade tell you?”

“Tell me what?” she blinked. That was another expression she’d never seen on him before.

“That I like these mints.” Floyd crunched another one between his teeth.

“Oh,” He did? “No. I’d just gotten some as an extra from when I ordered ingredients from Mister S’s Mystery Shop a while ago. You like mints?”

“These ones are strong enough to leave my mouth feeling clean,” Floyd showed her his filed teeth in a grin.

“Do you have bad breath or something?”

The grin disappeared in an instant. “Aah? You wanna die, Koebi-chan?”

“It was just a question,” Yuu muttered. Maybe she wasn’t the best with tact either.

Still, Floyd was displaying a rare bout of volatile mood-swings in front of her; a second later the zero-degree stare was gone, and he was chewing on another mint again almost cheerfully. Yuu pulled her legs up to her chest and the two of them gazed across past the dome covering Octavinelle’s entranceway where faint impressions of the wobbling stars and moon peeked between the clouds and waves.

“Weird,” Floyd commented after a while. “I don’t even remember why I wanted to snap your neck so much.”

Yuu rubbed sleepily at her eyes. “Do you not know how to communicate in forms other than violence?”

“Nope,” he answered cheerfully. “It’s how everyone behaves down where I come from. What, you can’t take a little heat?”

“Strangler-senpai,” Yuu started with a roll of her eyes.

“And no more of that either,” Floyd cut across her. “I have a name, Koebi-chan.”

“Excuse me?” Yuu lifted a brow at him. “So do I.”

“Yeah, but you’re Koebi-chan.”

“Then I can call _you_ whatever I want.”

Floyd dropped all of his weight on her abruptly, nearly sending Yuu crashing onto the roof again. “I have a _name_ ,” his smile held a warning.

“Hypocrite-senpai,” she spat out, trying to remain halfway upright.

“You want me to make shrimp tempura out of you?”

“There’s two of you, though,” Yuu said belligerently, pushing back against the 191 centimetres of heavy Merman leaning on her. “What am I gonna call you, Leech One and Leech Two?”

“You really—” Floyd snorted. “Seriously, don’t do that. Jade might feed you one of his experimental mushroom creations and put you out for a month. That guy holds grudges forever.”

“Hypocrite-senpai it is,” Yuu said cheerfully, since she did not want to get onto Jade’s bad side.

“It’s _Floyd!_ Repeat after me, baby fish,” he reached forwards and pinched her cheeks. “F-l-o-y-d.”

“Oww! Why’oo you alway’ ha’ to manhan’le me,” Yuu whined, voice sounding strange as her face deformed.

“Are your cheeks made out of dough or something?!” Floyd lit up, ignoring her. “Why are they so stretchy? This is hilarious. You look like a pufferfish.”

“Le’ee go!”

“F-l-o-y-d,” he chanted. “C’mon, it can’t be that hard even for a dummy like you, can it?”

“I ’on’t e’en lihe you,” Yuu said sulkily. The effect was rather ruined, as he still had her cheeks pinched between his fingers.

“Aw come on,” Floyd’s mood soared as hers sunk. “You’re too funny not to play…hang around! Are you still mad I nearly punched that guy? Forget about it already.”

“You jus’ sai’ play, ’i’n’t you?” she deadpanned. “…E’en if you ’i’n’t try to hunch him, I still ’on’t lihe you.”

“E~h? C’mon! What’s not to like?” He released her sore cheeks with a snap and pointed to himself. “I’m pretty amazing, you know. Just ‘cause you’re obsessed with logic and _reason_ and stuff and I don’t care? ’Cause I mess you up?”

Once again, Floyd reluctantly impressed her with the pace of his thinking. He was probably spot on, too. Yuu didn’t do much introspection, but what he said struck a chord within her, so he must have had a point.

Plus, she didn’t know how to ‘hate’ someone or something in the first place, so even as Floyd annoyed her to no end and caught her off guard at every turn, Yuu already found herself cataloguing his good points. Like his guileless smile or the ease with which he forgot grudges or how he was still talking to her when he could have flung her off the roof a long time ago.

“Oh no. I’ve lost my mind,” she clutched her hair.

“You just realized it now,” he gave her an unimpressed stare. “Finally decided to stop struggling? It’s way wiser to symbiote with a stronger creature than to keep fighting me, y’know.”

“I don’t want to symbiote or whatever with someone like you who damages me more than a parasite,” Yuu said flatly. “I also don’t really get what you’re saying.”

Floyd pointed at her. “Koebi-chan.”

“My name is _Yuu_ ,” she insisted.

“Me,” he pointed at himself, “Floyd Leech.”

Yuu stared at him in blank incomprehension.

“Symbiotic relationship,” he finished, drawing a circle with his fingers. Floyd jerked his head down in a satisfied nod, like he’d just proven a formula. “That way I don’t get pissed that you’re so weak and you don’t go running off getting eaten. Man, I’m awesome. Praise me.”

“First of all, I understand like half of what you’re saying,” Yuu squinted at him as he tipped more mints into his mouth. Was this guy going to crunch the whole pack right here? “Also, you’re the one trying to hurt me.”

“Can’t help it,” Floyd said cheerfully. “It’s my instinct when I see you existing. Your fault for being so small and helpless.”

“Like I’d ‘symbiote’ or whatever with someone like that,” Yuu shook her head. Then she gasped. “…Also, why am I getting swept up in your pace? I’m a human. I can live by myself.”

“Like hell you can,” Floyd yawned. “Okay, I decided. Finally I can stop thinking about stupid stuff and go play. Wanna come with me, Koebi-chan?”

“Wait, wait,” she spluttered. “What did you decide? I don’t get anything that just happened! And I have to do my homework and sleep!”

“Wha~t’s with that, don’t be so serious,” he whined. Floyd pushed himself with his feet, dusted off his school uniform, reached forward with his stupidly long arms and picked her up as easily as she had the pack of mints. The sudden action shocked her so much that even Jack’s coat falling from her shoulders didn’t register, nor the cold that enveloped her.

They really were up high. Everything around them sparkled in shades of blue, illuminating Floyd’s hair and grin. Yuu thought Octavinelle was beautiful—straight out of a fairy tale—and tried to get her head around the fact that she was dangling in the air.

So maybe she was trying her best not to freak out. This fear of heights wasn’t going anywhere soon.

Floyd peered into her face with childlike curiosity. “What goes on in that busy little shrimp head of yours? Playing is so much more fun.”

Yuu was too busy trying to regain her speech functions. “…Do you just randomly pick people up out of nowhere?” she finally managed weakly.

“Huh? I mean I try with Kingyo-chan, but he gets really mad and tries to attack me,” Floyd drawled, descending into thought with her still dangling from his arms. “You’re a lot more docile than that guy so it’s easy to swing you around. Smaller, too.”

She didn’t know who this Goldfish person was, but if he was also bothered by Floyd then she was truly sorry for him. “Maybe I should bite you again.”

Just the memory cracked him up. “Koebi-chan, you probably put in all your energy but it felt like a tickle, okay? Stop while you’re ahead before you make a clownfish outta yourself.”

“Ugh. _Whatever_.” She just couldn’t win with this guy. Yuu crossed her arms in his grip with difficulty. “Put me down please.”

“Don’t wanna~,” Floyd didn’t budge. “Koebi-chan, you look like you’d be terrible with sports. Land or sea. I bet you can’t even swim…”

“What kind of expression is that?” Yuu tried not to laugh as he made a faux caricature of sadness, for Floyd was grinning so evilly that the effect was comical. She was supposed to be angry at him, damn it! “I’ve never tried, but it can’t be that hard. Put me _down_ , please.”

“Wanna go swimming?” he asked abruptly.

“You actually just want to kill me, don’t you,” Yuu realised.

Floyd started laughing loudly again. The expression was so guileless that she was almost convinced the weeks of irritated glares had come from a different person. Unlike many of the students she’d met at NRC, it seemed as if this Merman was not one to hold onto a grudge for long—but the sudden positivity was jarring and rather frightening, if she wanted to be honest with herself.

Azul had mentioned something about no one being able to tell the truth behind Floyd’s expressions. As expected of someone who’d known him for a long time, he was right. Yuu was starting to see just how difficult this person was. Whether he had truly stopped trying to strangle her was completely lost to the darkness behind his eyes.

She gave up trying to figure him out when he started swinging her in circles and concentrated on staving off a dizzy spell. No matter how happy looking Floyd currently was, she was probably never going to let her guard down around this guy.

Natural enemies did not forget their acrimonies that easily.

—

Thanks to the exhausting work of dealing with Floyd (to unknown success), Yuu spent most of the night and next day with her face buried in Grim’s fur for mental battery charging purposes. Having a partner who was fluffy and warm made for excellent therapy. Back in Hogwarts, Yuu had not had the funding to purchase an animal companion of any kind, so Grim was the first time she’d been able to hold on to a magical creature—Monster, he insisted—for twenty-four hours of the day.

“What’s up with him?” Ace asked at lunchtime through a mouthful of hot dog.

Deuce, who had been dragging his feet with a look of despair ever since their quizzes came back that morning, made a funny groaning noise. “Wha?”

“Somethin’ about stress,” Grim shrugged, patiently letting Yuu hold onto him from behind as he took big bites of her lunch on her lap. “Apparently holding on to me reduces it or something.”

“Stress? Don’t tell me Savanclaw’s still messing with him.” Deuce snapped out of his funk, jaw tightening.

“Nah, the guard dog wouldn’t let that happen,” Ace dismissed, pulling him back into his seat. “If you’re so stressed out, Yuu, let’s go play after school or something. No more library lounging. You’ve caught up with your missed classes, haven’t you?”

“Can’t,” Yuu lifted her face from the fur on the back of Grim’s head briefly, giving him a regretful grimace. “I have a shift after school today.”

“Shift?” Ace repeated.

“I told you, Yuu’s a working man,” Deuce finally started on his food. “Not like he has any other choice than to work. He’s got nothing on him.”

“Lame,” complained Ace. “Part-time jobs take up so much time. We’ll make up for it so you should just quit.”

“You will?” Yuu lifted a brow at him. “Do you know how much Grim eats? And I saw you staring at that new basketball shoe ad a couple of days ago. Are you really gonna sponsor me with your allowance?”

“Don’t worry,” Deuce said confidently, “unlike Ace here, I don’t spend my money on useless things.”

“Basketball shoes aren’t _useless_!” Ace spluttered. “And those ones look cool as hell! Plus Deuce gets food from Sam’s shop twice as much as I do.”

“But come to think of it, I’ve got some old clothes in the back of my closet I can pass over,” Deuce ignored him. “You’ve only got uniforms, right? Next time I come over I’ll bring them with me.”

“Deuce, you rock,” Yuu said gratefully. “Rosehearts-senpai and Cater-senpai got me a bunch of pyjamas and clothes and stuff already, but thanks a lot.”

“Damn, they work fast,” Ace whistled, impressed. “Lemme guess. Trey-senpai got you a toothbrush set.”

“Ah ha ha,” Yuu laughed nervously.

“Wait, don’t tell me he offered to brush your teeth for you too,” Deuce said, shivering.

“You too?” Yuu lowered her voice. “You think he might be a little…”

“A little…” Ace copied her wince. The three of them exchanged glances.

“Just keep your mouth shut and do what he says,” Deuce said solemnly. “There’s people you can piss off and people you can’t.”

“Hey, at least you won’t get cavities while he’s around,” Ace shrugged. “Anyway, when we visit this weekend, I’ll see if I can scrounge up some old stuff I don’t need. Eventually we should get a TV or something set up in your room so we can watch movies and play games without getting Dorm Head pissed at us.”

“Come to think of it, Clover-senpai was asking after your bandages,” Deuce mentioned through a mouthful of bread. “You visit Professor Crewel every morning, right? What’s the verdict?”

“He said Friday morning,” Grim answered for her as Yuu petted his ears with her bandaged fingers. “And a good thing, too, since these bandages aren’t soft on the fur.”

“I nearly forgot you still have those on,” Ace muttered. “Yuu acts so blasé about it…no wonder Trey-senpai’s keeping an eye out for you. Even Cater-senpai asks after you all the time, you know? Stop troubling your vice Dorm Head.”

“Not a Heartslabyul student,” Yuu rolled her eyes.

“We’ll see how long you last,” he challenged. “If that Dorm Head finds out about your terrible physical education grades, he’ll force you into daily training. He thinks all his students need to be geniuses at everything.”

“He won’t find out if _nobody tells him_ ,” Yuu hinted, eyeing him.

Ace leaned forwards with his signature wicked smirk. “Next time we visit, make me Salisbury steak.”

“You’re coercing Yuu into making food? I want cheese-stuffed omelettes,” Deuce swallowed and poked his head in her direction, eyes shining.

“This weekend, then?” Yuu glanced down at Grim.

“Fine,” her partner agreed, letting her wipe crumbs from his whiskers. “…I want salmon.”

“That’s expensive. We’ll see.”

“ _Funaa…_ ”

Thanks to her stay at Heartslabyul, Yuu now possessed a variety of accessories and apparel she didn’t know she needed. Cater had stopped by the day before yesterday to deliver a pile of his old clothes and ones donated to him by other dorm students to clothe the ‘pitiful lost duckling’. Even when he’d passed on their well-wishes and teasing remarks, Yuu was in too good of a mood to retort. Free clothing was far and away above her expectations, but Cater made it seem like something natural that she didn’t even have a chance to decline.

Incidentally, out of all the dorm students, Riddle’s shirt size was the closest to hers—still hanging past her shoulders but at least not falling past her thighs, though his own contributions were of such high quality and make that Yuu was reluctant to touch them.

Cater had spent several minutes laughing at the pitiful outside state of Ramshackle, snapping pictures left and right, before subtly hinting at her to transfer so that she wouldn’t be exposed to wind gusting through the leaks in the roof. Yuu decided not to show him her renovated place for fear he’d broadcast it to the world via MagiCam twenty minutes later. But she liked talking to Cater because he was far more socially skilled than her—and knew every interesting occurrence under the roof of NRC—so they chatted on the porch leisurely with her swerving the direction of the conversation away every time he mentioned how good Heartslabyul was in comparison to this place.

Before he left to have tea with the second years, Cater also passed on a whole pound cake and toothbrush set from Trey with a wink, telling her not to take his tooth-brushing mania too seriously.

Trey’s weird hobbies aside, Yuu had also received a bunch of small knickknacks during her stay—a full pencil-case Riddle presented her complete with a sturdy red-and-black-checked mechanical pencil she now used daily; reusable containers to store food from Trey; various tubes of skincare products and face paint from Cater. The possessions she had at hand were now overwhelmingly red, white, and black. Even Ace and Deuce had foisted their old keychains, watches, and packs of cards on her, though in their case, she was sure they were using her as an alternative recycling bin.

Never would Yuu admit how happy they made her. Ace and Deuce were getting more merciless by the day and they’d never give her the end of it. But because they were the first people who had found her in this distorted world, she kept every single thing they gave her in her newly renovated desk and stared at her pile of growing belongings with a grin Grim called ‘gross’.

Adding Jack’s oversized coat and Leona and Ruggie’s efforts to overhaul her living space, Yuu felt like she’d gotten her birthday and Christmas all rolled up into one these past couple of weeks. (Not that she’d ever received anything for her birthday.) It was ticklish and a little disconcerting. Regardless of their motivations behind everything, it still made her feel lighter than a helium balloon.

Unfortunately for Yuu’s stress levels (it was a good thing wizards and witches didn’t produce Blot), she had another shift this afternoon. Azul had been true to his word when he’d promised he’d work her twice as hard for her next week of shifts, but nothing was as bad as the suicide runs Vargas ordered on a whim. The part she was dreading more was bumping into Floyd. After last night’s confrontation, she had no idea where they stood any longer.

“Well, well,” Jade Leech remarked as Yuu arrived in the kitchen, having surreptitiously changed in the washroom stall as usual. “That’s a wonderful expression you’re wearing as usual, Mister Directing Student. Almost as if you’re headed off to the gallows, _fu fu fu_.”

“Leech-senpai,” Yuu greeted dully, not having the strength to fend off his masked insults with her own. “I haven’t seen you for a while.”

Jade was dressed as impeccably as customary in his Mostro Lounge uniform, tucking his gloves away in a pocket as he glanced over the night’s menu and began to pull out a cutting board. Since she’d arrived ten minutes early, none of the other staff were present. It was nothing unusual. The middle of the week was usually less busy than the weekends, although with colder weather came more students clamouring for hot food (did Therianthropes hibernate?). When Yuu had checked the Thursday roster earlier, there were only two or three more workers scheduled for the night.

“Autumn is the season when the best mushrooms ripen in the forest,” he explained as they lined up at the counter, by now used to the routine of food preparation, “especially late autumn. As a member of the Mountain Lover’s Assembly, I cannot very well abandon my duties during peak gathering season, can I?”

“So that’s why?” Yuu blinked curiously. “Is peak season over yet?”

“More or less. Land is interesting in that harvesting seasons vary yearly due to a variety of factors, so I’m planning on making a trip this and next weekend to snag any last stragglers,” Jade told her merrily. “The view from the mountains behind the school’s largest forest is a must-see. What do you say, Mister Directing Student? Would you like to come with me?”

Yuu, who had been hauling over a sack of rice, stilled and looked up at him carefully. “…I wasn’t aware we were, er, friendly enough to be going on club outings together. Also, I’m not part of the club.”

“I believe we’ve mentioned that observation trial periods are allowed by all students, so there shouldn’t be a problem,” Jade responded in that same polite voice, though he looked amused at her sudden caution. “And you are quite good at getting along with anyone, are you not?”

Before she could ask him what he meant by that, Floyd popped his head back through the door, ribbon of his Mostro Lounge uniform askew and hat perched precariously on his turquoise hair. “Ja~de,” he called, “where did you put the—A~h! It’s Koebi-chan!”

“ _Geh_ ,” Yuu released before she could stop herself.

Floyd ignored it; his face lit up and he dove forwards, hat flying off behind him. “Koebi-chan! Your ribbon tie looks ridiculous. Here, lemme fix it.”

Yuu abandoned her rice and dove behind Jade, using him as a shield against his brother. “No thanks Strangler-senpai. I happen to like having my ribbon like this. Plus yours isn’t even tied up.”

“ _Oya oya_ ,” Jade emitted in pleasant surprise, otherwise remaining still.

“E~h? ’Cause I don’t like my neck feeling all compressed,” Floyd followed her around Jade, forcing Yuu to cling to the latter’s arms and turn him around as she dodged. “Yo~u just look like a moron.”

“Not as much as your face,” Yuu insulted from a relatively safe space (behind Jade’s elbow).

“And how many times have I told you it’s _Floyd_ ,” he ignored her as they both walked circles around Jade, one ducking low and one with his shoulders hunched to better see her face. “Koebi-chan are you ma~ybe hard of hearing or something? Repeat after me: F _loyyyy_ d.”

“How about you stop calling me ‘little shrimp,’ then,” she challenged from somewhere around Jade’s ribs. “It’s _Yuuuuuu_.”

“Huh? No way.” Floyd’s voice dropped several octaves without warning, the light fading from his eyes. “Want me to _squeeze_ you again?”

“Leech-senpai, you should really do something about your brother,” Yuu complained, glancing upwards. “He’s completely…are you okay?”

Jade hadn’t reacted to them using him as a human pillar for several minutes, but now she could feel the trembling of his stomach through his uniform. When she craned her head back, he had one glove pressed against his face, hat sliding down over his eyes as his shoulders shook.

“Ah~, you hit Jade’s funny bone again,” Floyd commented, leaning against his brother casually. He jerked a thumb at him with a fond eye-roll. “He doesn’t usually laugh like this, so you should be proud of yourself, Koebi-chan.”

“Really?” Jade was usually all smiles, at least, and she’d already counted him hiding uncontrollable laughter several times, not the least of which belonged to the time when she forced Floyd to eat a mushroom. Yuu let go of Jade and peered up at him curiously. “Leech-senpai’s usually laughing though.”

“That’s cause it’s you.” Floyd rolled his eyes. “Anyway, c’mere, you look like a little girl with that bow.”

Yuu gave up her hiding game and let him fiddle with her ribbon, prepared to get choked again. To her surprise, Floyd was unexpectedly deft with his fingers for someone who never wore his own ribbon tied. Just as quickly as Jade, he had pulled hers into a much neater-looking ribbon snug against her collarbone.

“There,” Floyd said in satisfaction, half-collapsing on her shoulder this time. “Symbio~sis. Praise me.”

“Congratulations for being extremely heavy,” Yuu monotoned, struggling under his weight. “And I didn’t agree to the whole symbiosis thing, which by the way, still doesn’t make any sense. It only sounds like an excuse you made to bug me more.”

“Next time you should do something for me too,” Floyd ignored her, starting to fiddle with her hair in its lengthening knot. “Also why do you cover your face with those messy bangs? It pisses me off just looking at it.”

“This guy just never listens to anyone talk, huh?” Yuu sighed. “Okay, Strangler-senpai, I need to start on prep so I’m gonna have to push you off.”

“Huh? Like you could,” Floyd said lowly.

Yuu looked skywards and then to Jade for help. But the other Leech was still shaking so hard with mirth that he had to support himself against the table with one hand. She remembered that out of the Leech siblings, he was probably the more dangerous one when provoked and started towing Floyd forwards with a sigh as she went to grab his hat still fallen on the floor.

Since her arrival in the Twisted Wonderland, Yuu had become very touchy. Ace and Deuce got used to it fast—Deuce didn’t like it when people were touchy with him, but he told her that for some reason he didn’t mind so much if it was her—and Grim was touchy back. Still, even with people like Trey, Riddle, Cater, and the Savanaclaw students, Yuu was mostly the one initiating contact.

She was long prepared for weird looks and insults before people got used to it, though she always tried to refrain from sticking close to those who she didn’t know very well. Recently her targets had expanded to include Ruggie and Leona, who had reciprocated without a change in expression. Perhaps it was a Therianthrope thing. Ruggie had told her they were tactile creatures.

In other words, Yuu was completely unused to being on the receiving end. And Floyd was not shy about draping himself over her.

“You’re so weird,” she mumbled, not knowing how she should feel.

“You got guts to insult me when I can snap your neck in a second,” Floyd responded, starting to curl her lengthening bangs around his fingers leisurely.

Yuu was sure she should have had a more violent reaction. Anyone else would—it was the logical step to take. Up to last night, Floyd had been nothing short of hostile towards her. Was he up to something? Should she elbow him in the side and run?

It was almost a good thing that she was too careful to react emotionally. Almost.

Jade barely controlled another fit of laughter as she stared at the politer Leech, bug-eyed, for help. But he was out in the hall that evening, so without mercy, he began his share of the kitchen preparations, ignoring her wordless plea.

While Yuu mechanically peeled potatoes (wearing protective gloves over her bandages), planning a hundred escape routes and scrapping them all, Floyd put his head on top of hers and ground his cheek into her hair. “Talk about something interesting, Koebi-chan.”

“Floyd can be a little spoiled sometimes,” Jade remarked unhelpfully from her other side as he sliced cucumbers at the speed of light. “Do indulge him if you can, Mister Directing Student.”

“I feel like thinking around you doesn’t do anything except make me tired,” Yuu told the Leech leaning on her with a sigh.

“You’re always jumping and scuttling around like a shrimp anyway,” Floyd commented. “Aren’t you good at tiring yourself out?”

“You’re not supposed to say things like that even if they’re true,” Jade told him.

“You two are the _paragon_ of Octavinelle’s merciful spirit,” Yuu grumbled. Both of them laughed at her and she considered elbowing Floyd again.

If Yuu was surprised at Floyd’s sudden one-eighty in attitude, the rest of Mostro Lounge’s Thursday staff were downright terrified. The first arrival had walked in with a smile as he greeted her only to freeze solid at the sight of Floyd attached to her back like a penguin of some sort. The second made a funny sucking noise as if he’d forgotten how to breathe; the third fell over entirely. She expected the twins to laugh at the comical reactions, but none of them looked amused, just sort of bored.

Jade shook his head before heading out to the hall with a courteous dip of the head in her direction while the staff recovered.

“They’re so scared it isn’t even funny,” whined Floyd as Yuu started to shred lettuce. He didn’t bother to lower his voice.

“Maybe it’s because of your everyday behaviour that made them like that?” she suggested. “Also, I used to be on speaking terms with people in here, you know. Guess that’s gone down the drain thanks to you.”

“ _Huuuuh_?” Floyd’s mood dropped sharply; he wrenched her head backwards to meet his two mismatched eyes glaring down at her own. “What’s with that. You sayin’ they’re better than me or something?”

“What are you talking about?” Yuu squinted at him in confusion. “I’m just saying that you’re gonna scare them off from talking to me anymore.”

“Good,” Floyd said darkly.

“Good!?” she yelped. “It’s better to have a harmonious workplace environment you know! I don’t know if you’ve heard of my reputation in this school, but everyone sort of hates me, senpai.”

“You don’t need to associate with those small fries anyway,” Floyd said dismissively, tilting her head back to face the counter. “You should _thank_ me for getting ‘em out of your way.”

Sometimes Yuu could not understand this person at all. “I’d prefer not to make my position worse than it already is,” she sighed. “I can see it now…next time I come in here everyone’s not even going to be able to look me in the eye.”

Floyd was silent for a moment before he muttered, “Who cares about your reputation? You’re Koebi-chan, aren’t you? That’s all that matters.”

Yuu’s hands stilled.

“…? O~i? Koebi-chan? He stopped working,” Floyd muttered, rapping on her head with his knuckles. “You’re not gonna make tonight’s dinner rush if you keep standing still like that, you know. Jade is gonna sink you in the ocean.”

“…You’re supposed to be on for tonight too,” Yuu recovered after a second, starting the shredding again.

“I’m not up to bat ‘til you finish with the food prep, so scuttle faster,” Floyd sang. “Man, your shoulders are _so_ small it’s hilarious.”

Though Yuu didn’t consider herself talkative, it was surprising how quiet the kitchen could be when, in light of Floyd’s sudden physical attachment to her, everyone held their breath and stopped chatting. However, she had no time to react to it, because Floyd’s unpredictable actions were more than enough to replace the conversations. Not only was she wary of him suddenly snapping (her limbs) and losing his comparatively good mood, but he was also excellent at steering conversations his way, to put it politely. More accurately, Floyd Leech never listened to anyone he didn’t want to and only did what he ever wanted to.

“Has anyone told you you’re persistent, senpai?” Yuu asked after a while of him prying responses out of her.

“Your fault for not talking about interesting stuff,” Floyd said. “If you slice that diagonally it’s faster.”

“…You’re right,” Yuu blinked in surprise as she adjusted her knife angle. “But senpai, it’s not like I’m interesting in the first place.”

“ _Pfft_.” Apparently, he found that statement worth nothing but a snort.

“Don’t spray spit all over my hair!” Yuu yelped. “You smelly fish!”

“Excuse me? I smell God-damn amazing,” Floyd shoved his wrist at her nose, “who the hell is a smelly fish, you cheeky shrimp?”

“Get your stupidly big arm out of my face, you smelly fish,” Yuu’s voice was muffled by his admittedly nice-smelling suit jacket. She’d never admit it until the day she died. “I can’t cut the cabbage with you in the way.”

“You’re just stupidly small,” he sniffed. “Anyway, don’t even start with the uninteresting stuff. Do you know who my brother _is_? He would barely talk to you if you weren’t hella interesting.”

“Leech-senpai’s probably better with social situations than that,” Yuu protested.

“Yeah, no.” Floyd rested both arms on her head as she sliced. “That guy values ‘fun’ over almost everything else and he doesn’t hold back as much as he seems. If he thought you were an eyesore, he would’ve done something by now.”

“Why are you two so violent all the time?” she mumbled.

“Told you. That’s all we know how to be like. And you’re okay with it, aren’t you?” Floyd tugged her earlobe painfully. “Anyway, now that we’re done with the uninteresting debate, hurry up and entertain me.”

“Why don’t _you_ tell me something interesting.”

“Too much effort. Now hurry up before I get angry.”

“I won’t like you when you’re angry?” Yuu quipped.

“You never seem to care, but sure, let’s go with that.”

“What do you do in your free time?” she asked. “What kind of stuff do you think is interesting? At least answer that first.”

“Why do I have to tell you anything?”

“I’m _really_ going to punch you in the eye one day, Strangler-senpai,” Yuu said slowly.

“A _ha._ Try it if you wanna die.”

Floyd and Yuu bickered all the way through her shift and closing time. Even when it was his turn to start handling the pots and pans on the stove, Yuu was dragged back bodily whenever she tried to leave and consequently tasked with ferrying ingredients back and forth instead of assuming her position at the delivery window.

She still had no idea what had come over Floyd, and by the end of the night she didn’t care anymore. Yuu zipped up Jack’s coat all the way and prepared to make her way back to Ramshackle, exhausted. Azul didn’t pull punches when he gave her twice the workload that he’d promised for the week.

“Ah, Mister Directing Student. Thank you for your hard work,” Jade greeted her as she exited the break room into the empty Lounge hall. “I hope Floyd wasn’t too excited today.”

“Excited?” Yuu repeated, hiding a yawn into the collar of her coat. “If you mean annoying, yes, he was.”

“Do forgive him,” Jade smiled pleasantly. “It has been a while since he’s been so interested in another thing.”

“I’m a person,” she tried.

“Yes, and an unappealing one at that, at first glance,” he said without missing a beat.

All Leeches were the same. Yuu sighed. “You sure like insulting people. Good night, senpai…”

Jade stalled her with a pleasant laugh. “Don’t be angry. I said ‘at first glance’, did I not? That means my opinion is different right now.”

Yuu remembered what Floyd had told her earlier that day. _He would barely talk to you if you weren’t hella interesting._ She looked closer at Jade’s ever-smiling face and muttered, “You brothers really are alike.”

“You’re one of the only people to say that,” Jade’s brows drew together in a mockery of a frown. “I suppose that astute observation skill of yours has pulled you this far. Be careful, though, Mister Directing Student. It is not good to stand out too much.”

“You always make things sound mysterious and threatening,” Yuu said tiredly. “Is it fun to mess with me?”

“Why, I would _never_ ,” Jade pressed his glove to his chest, grinning broadly.

“Good _night_.” Yuu repeated with finality, turning to leave. She’d had enough of the Leeches for one day.

—

Mercifully, the next day was part time job-free. Yuu had made a promise to meet Leona after school, to Grim’s vocal chagrin, so she bade her friends farewell at the end of their final class (today it was practical magic) and stuffed an emergency reserve tuna can in his paws to get him to let go. Ace and Deuce exchanged unreadable glances and told her to be careful.

“Yell if you’re in trouble,” Deuce told her.

“For Jack,” Ace clarified. “He’ll come running. Probably.”

“If we didn’t have club activities, we’d come with you,” Deuce said regretfully. “Well, since it’s Yuu, I don’t think anyone will do anything, but don’t let your guard down.”

“Do your magic thing and blast ‘em if they start looking at you funny,” Ace advised, not looking appeased.

“Why do you guys think Savanaclaw’s so bad?” Yuu wanted to know. “Everyone’s pretty nice.”

“Nice…” Deuce repeated, making a strange expression.

“Ignore him. He called _Dorm Head_ nice,” Ace said. The two of them grimaced at each other before they each messed up her hair, to her dismay.

“They’re probably still not over the trick you played on them,” Yuu relayed to Ruggie as he went around straightening Leona’s ever-messy room. Leona himself was asleep in his mess of blankets and cushions. He made an excellent backrest in the cooling weather.

Ruggie made the same strange expression Deuce had earlier. “…That’s probably not it,” he said slowly. “Yuu-kun, you really have no experience with relationships, do you? Just ‘cause these guys accepted you doesn’t mean they’re _nice_.”

“They’re nice to me.”

“You’re special.”

Yuu wrinkled her nose at him. “That an insult?”

“Your calling people ‘nice’ is an insult,” Ruggie snapped. “I don’t think you even know what the word means.”

“Now you’re really insulting me.” Yuu crossed her legs. “Sure you don’t want any help?”

“Like hell I can ask an injured girl to help me.” Ruggie waved her off with a hand. “You just stay there. I’m gettin’ paid to do this.”

“I don’t like having nothing to do,” Yuu sighed, but obediently got into a more comfortable leaning position against Leona’s warm back. “Especially when the person I made plans with is asleep.”

“The kids in our dorm have really been bugging him since the Magift tourney,” Ruggie explained, carrying a teetering pile of fabric over to the bed and leaping up beside her to start folding. “I told you we’ve got an inter-school Magift championship in May, right? Those hot-blooded morons are already setting up morning practices. Thanks to that, he’s been skipping even more class than usual and sleeping all day when not on a broom.”

“If you guys start messing with the inter-school competitions, you might actually get expelled,” Yuu remarked. “At least get away with it this time.”

“My reputation around school’s hit rock bottom already, ’s not like it matters,” Ruggie shrugged. “Some people are already pissed that I’m a hyena that managed to get in here, and now that my Unique Magic’s leaked, people are probably gonna try to find an excuse to get me out one way or another. ’Specially those posh-talking rich boys.”

Having been on the end of similar attention when she was younger, Yuu nodded quietly in understanding. “Want me to talk to the Headmaster about it? Or are you looking to figure out ways to get around them?”

“…It still feels weird that you don’t care,” Ruggie paused and eyed her. “Don’t know how it is in your world, but I’d have expected most girls to be disgusted and tell me to stay away from them. Us hyenas are not exactly popular.”

“Stop being ridiculous when you know the answer,” Yuu rolled her eyes at him. “Plus I’ve seen animal videos of hyenas play-fighting and they’re cute as hell. Girls would love you.”

“Scavenger-hunters avoided by society are _cute_?” he gaped at her in disbelief. “I don’t know if it’s your world that’s insane or just you. And I’m not an animal! Therianthropes are different!”

“You’ve even used your Unique Magic on me so you should know I don’t care,” she ignored him. “I think it would’ve been pretty obvious that I’m not knowledgeable about your world’s social dynamics to be wary about your ‘bloodline’ or something stupid like that.”

“Bloodline?” Ruggie repeated, ears turning her way in confusion.

Eager for something to pass the time while Leona napped, Yuu explained the discrimination still running rampant in wizarding communities concerning Half-bloods, Purebloods and muggle-borns. Having grown up no different from a muggle, Yuu was far more sympathetic to the plight of those ostracized because they weren’t a part of a long, illustrious line of wizards. It helped that her hero, Hermione Granger, was muggleborn and one of the most outstanding magic-users alive.

“I keep thinking we’re alike,” Ruggie commented. “The way we grew up isn’t so far apart, you and I. Wonder how you turned out so different from me?”

“I _should_ have been more like you,” she said regretfully. “You know I really respect you, right, Ruggie-senpai? If I were better with street-smarts… Unfortunately, I just turned out like… Not much of anything.”

“Personally, I think it’s a damn miracle you’re the way you are,” Ruggie said vehemently, “though you are a bit of a li’l dummy.”

“A miracle?” Yuu hadn’t expected that.

“ _Shi shi shi_. If you don’t get it, then it’s fine.” He showed her his teeth in a grin. “And you don’t have to worry about being sly or cunning like me. No one’s ever gonna bully you ever again anyway, so go ahead and be the absentminded way you are, Yuu-kun.”

Though he had given up on bringing her out of the school, there had been a subtle change in Ruggie’s attitude towards her now that he was aware she was female. Leona had told her with an eyeroll that it was probably because she wasn’t like most of the women in the Afterglow Savannah, which was apparently _not_ an insult. Personally, Yuu wished she was as cool as one of them, since according to Leona, they tended to be powerful and rather frightening. She was far from either.

Overtly, Ruggie still joked around and teased her, especially together with his fellow second-year Savanaclaw classmates, but he’d stopped roping her in to helping him with food unless she asked. And sometimes he made strange statements like these, ones that she had a feeling he wouldn’t have said if she were still under the guise of a male student.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Yuu wrinkled her brow now.

“It means that people who mess with you mess with Savana.” Ruggie sniffed at the cuff of a pair of jeans and flung it on the carpet with a disgusted grimace.

It was probably the way he’d been brought up—it wasn’t a bad thing that people in this world respected women so highly—but Yuu didn’t feel very satisfied about Ruggie’s tiny shift.

The hyena Therianthrope noticed her pouting. “I’m not thinking any less of you because you’re female,” he said patiently. They’d gone through this many a time. “Hyena cackles are _matriarchal_. Everyone respects women.”

“I don’t want you to think any _more_ of me because I’m female,” Yuu mumbled, fiddling with Leona’s tail as she refused to look him in the eye.

“That a day would come when someone depended on _my_ opinion,” he muttered back. “Do you have masochistic tendencies or somethin’?”

“Self-harming…? Never thought about it. What does that have to do with anything?”

“Gah! Whatever. I don’t think any _more_ of you either,” Ruggie gave up. “But you’re physically weak, so at least let me cover for it. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“The Ruggie-senpai that charges for _everything_?” she asked sceptically. “And I have magic. Don’t need you to cover for me.”

“Just let someone take care of you for once in your life,” he said exasperatedly. “Technically, we all owe you a ton for the Overblot incident, and you saved my life during that fight. If you can’t believe in our friendship, at least believe that.”

“It’s not that I don’t believe…!” Yuu said hastily, detecting a downturn in his voice.

“See, _this_ is why I gotta keep an eye on you,” Ruggie dropped one of Leona’s shirts and reached forward to ruffle her hair, any signs of dissatisfaction melting into a grin. “You’re so easily tricked ‘cause of your whole not-used-to-relationships thing.”

“Do all hyena Therianthropes fuss over people like you do?” Yuu said grumpily, letting him.

“You have no clue. The kids back home _love_ me,” he said proudly.

“I’m not a kid, you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” Ruggie said, and this time he looked like he really meant it.

The last time she’d mentioned searching for a gender-changing potion, Ruggie had looked downright horrified, asking her why she would abandon the sweet package she had for something so vastly inferior. Leona had laughed and told her she’d turn into a fugitive (since permanent physical modification potions were against the law). Crewel had just given her an amused shake of the head and told her she didn’t _really_ want to be a badly bred mutt like the rest of the NRC students. Maybe he was right, but that didn’t mean she had to like it.

Still, Yuu didn’t want anyone else figuring out her gender anymore. Not just because of the whole ‘boy’s school’ situation—but because she was starting to get used to this world and its gender roles.

Being treated as a boy—as one of the students here—wasn’t so bad. Because for the first time in her life, Yuu was accepted (no matter how reluctantly) as a regular student. A _part_ of the masses.

Even if she wasn’t going to be here for long.

“What are those things he wears?” To distract herself, Yuu pointed at the sturdy-looking leather pieces Leona usually draped over his jean legs when he went flying.

“These?” Ruggie pulled one straight to show her. “They’re riding chaps. The Equestrian club here has tons of ’em, but Leona-san tends to destroy his jeans ’cause he flies so recklessly so he needs these more.”

“The dorm clothes for Savanaclaw are really comfortable,” Yuu remarked, feeling the soft leather with the hand not holding Leona’s tail. “I guess the other dorms’ uniforms are comfy too, but Heartslabyul looks like they’re getting ready for a dance party all the time with their suits. The dress here is a lot more casual.”

“I heard their uniform’s supposed to be based on the white background of a deck of playing cards,” Ruggie offered, folding the chaps and moving on to the dwindling pile of clothing. “Hurts the eyes, man. _Never_ transfer to that dorm, you hear? I’d have to wear sunglasses when I looked at you.”

Yuu grimaced. She’d told him about her imprisonment at Heartslabyul and how none of its members had given up on trying to make her move over. “You gotta remind me not to before I get tricked by Trey-senpai.”

“That guy?” Ruggie squinted. “What, he’s manipulative or something?”

“Well…you could say that…” Yuu grinned weakly. “And he makes good food.”

“That’s the worst weapon someone can have,” Ruggie nodded solemnly.

Yuu didn’t mention that Ruggie himself was excellent at cooking, since she was sure he was aware of his strengths. “Plus, I’ve got no magic—to them, anyway. I don’t think a non-magical student is able to enter any dorm based on the school rules.”

“Wrong,” Leona cut in sleepily, voice even lower than usual. He yawned. “What time is it, herbivore?”

Yuu looked at Ruggie. The watch Ace had tossed her was lying in her room.

“Umm…” he glanced out the darkening window. “Probably close to five? You know sleeping through an appointment is pretty bad form for a prince, Leona-san. Yuu-kun managed to finish all her homework just waiting for you.”

“Not used to having people show up on time to stuff,” Leona sat up, looking rather pleased. “Oi Ruggie. After you’re done with that, go grab some food for us…and you, if you wanna watch.”

“ _Ui~ssu_.” Ruggie carried the neatly folded clothes into the dresser by Leona’s bed and flicked his Pen at the dirty clothes, which followed him out of the room. Yuu waved at him bemusedly.

“Watch?” she asked Leona, releasing his tail.

“What we were talking about a few days ago,” he yawned again. “I’ve been thinking about your magic. I still think it’s a waste you’re not using it to its fullest potential.”

“I call it deliberation.”

“You’re not a Scarabia student, so stop talking like one.”

Yuu wrinkled her nose. She could never imagine someone like Kalim saying something like ‘deliberation’, but then again, she was on the receiving end of Scarabia’s hostility, so she had no idea what they were really like.

“Also, I’ve got something here for you.” Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, Leona loped over to his desk and fished out an envelope from a drawer. “Here.”

“For me?” Yuu took it gingerly with her bandaged fingers, checking the seal. When she saw it wasn’t Mostro Lounge’s, she swallowed a sigh of relief.

“Go ahead and open it,” grunted Leona, flopping on his back, “Ruggie’s probably coming back with food for three, so I’ll explain then.”

If Leona had deemed this letter okay, it was okay. Yuu slid her nail underneath the nice-smelling seal whose crest she didn’t recognise and pulled out a carefully creased sheet of heavyweight paper.

 _Onee-tan_ , it read in clumsy block lettering. _It’s Cheka! I was wurried about ~~yur~~ your boo-boos so I had my ~~rey~~ ~~reh~~ reetainer mail Oji-tan an extra letter to you. Since we’re friends now! Yay!_

_Tell Oji-tan to mail me back! He’s so silly and sleepy. Friends ~~lissen~~ listen to each other so he might listen to you?_

_I asked if you could come visit (dont worry our secrets secret!!) and Dad made a funny face. Then he went on his phone and keeps trying to call Oji-tan. Dad’s weird. Maybe you can come visit later_

_Oh no more space…well enyway, it’s getting cold so drink lots of hot coco! Stay warm friend!!_

_Sincerest Regards,_

_Cheka Kingscholar_

_First Prince of the Afterglow Savannah_

_P.S. Dad says hi!_

When several minutes passed with no reaction, Leona’s tail thumped her on the shoulder. “Oi. What’s wrong with you? Was Cheka’s writing too messy to read or something?”

“Did you read this ahead of time?” Yuu managed weakly.

“Huh? I don’t have hobbies of reading letters addressed to other people,” he scowled at her. “That kid’s always going on and on about useless things, anyway.”

“So he sends you letters.”

“To my eternal dismay.”

“And you _read_ his letters.”

“It’s a source of information into the palace.”

Yuu grinned. “Everyone in Savanaclaw’s a _tsundere_ or something.”

“Aah?” the tail curled around her neck threateningly as he fixed her with a glare.

“You know, when I think about it, apart from all the violence, Savanaclaw’s the cutest dorm,” she ignored him, scooting over with an uncompressible grin. “With your extremely cute tail and extremely cute ears and the extremely cute way you pretend you don’t care about— _gueh_ can’t breathe—”

“I’ll give you points for the nerve to call the second prince of a country _cute_ ,” Leona’s tail tightened. “Cheka does that enough. You wanna see a horrible end?”

Compared to Floyd’s strangling, this was barely on the list of ‘painful’. Yuu grinned up at him until he released her with a sigh and whacked her in the forehead with the fuzzy tip of his tail.

“Cheka’s an _angel_ ,” she told him, undeterred, hurrying over to show the letter. “I can’t believe he even remembered who I was. And sent me a letter! Do five-year-olds always write this well? If I write back will you help me deliver it? Or should I do it myself?”

“Of course you’d like kids too…” Leona groaned. “What a pain in the ass.”

“Oh, but if I’m writing to a prince, I should get stationery. He’s so smart for someone so young and the letter paper looks really expensive,” she commented, “my notebook paper is probably not going to cut it.”

“If it stops you from yapping, we can figure it out later. That kid’s nothing but trouble.”

The ire behind his voice was stronger than she’d expected. She’d almost forgotten, but as much as Cheka was his nephew, he was also the symbol of Leona’s final hope withering into ash.

Yuu almost asked if he’d ever thought about what Scar had tried in The King of Lions—ever considered nepoticide—and stopped herself. She was untactful, but not _that_ untactful. “…He…told me to try and get you to write him back,” she tried.

“Too much work. I probably have to go back during the Winter Holiday anyway, he can wait,” Leona said dismissively.

“Right…Cheka even asked if I could visit,” Yuu grinned foolishly as she refolded the letter and tucked it in its envelope. “Though I nearly had a heart attack when he said that the King said hi.”

Yuu had dreamed about this king briefly, though it was probably just her overactive imagination. About Leona refusing to attend the ceremony of Cheka’s birth. She never mentioned it to him, but Yuu’s dream impression of this king refused to leave. Even if it was a weird burst of imagination, the dream had seemed strangely real.

“That damn…no wonder my missed calls were in the hundreds.” Leona clicked his tongue before eyeing her consideringly. “What do you say, herbivore? Wanna tour the palace come break?”

“Are you kidding me? I’ll probably offend someone and get murdered,” she spluttered.

“If you stick with me, no one’ll be brave enough to give you a second glance,” he demurred. “…Well, Cheka and _aniki_ might be annoying, though.”

“No offence, but I have an illogical dislike of your brother because he made you unhappy, even though it wasn’t his fault,” Yuu shook her head, “and I can’t be trusted to not accidentally slander him and get beheaded immediately. So it might not be the best idea.”

He blinked in surprise, turning to meet her eye. “…But Cheka’s okay?”

“He’s a kid. The cute animal-like features help alleviate my gut reaction.” Yuu scratched her head before she caught his sinking ears. “…If I had to choose it’d be you every time, Leona-senpai. So if you don’t want me to write him back, I won’t. We went over this, right? That you’re in first place?”

“I’m back,” Ruggie called, pushing the curtain aside with two precariously balanced trays of food on his arm. “I just made a pile of sandwiches ’cause we were on short notice, but…Leona-san? What are you doing?!”

“Someone needs to teach this herbivore to stop saying embarrassing things with a straight face.” Leona’s voice was deadly serious.

Yuu, who was currently undergoing a sitting Nelson hold, struggled feebly in his grip. “Ruggie-senpai, he’s the bully,” she told the gaping second-year. “Why don’t you stop _him_ from messing with me first?”

“…I don’t know what happened while I was gone,” Ruggie went to set the trays on Leona’s desk, “but it was probably Yuu-kun’s fault.”

“I thought you were on my side!”

“Hyenas are on no one’s side but themselves.” Ruggie grinned at her. “Your problem for being so defenceless around a predator.”

“You’re just in time,” Leona ignored Yuu, who was muttering about the cute ears being a trap. “We’re going to run some tests on the herbivore’s magic.”

“Like this!? I’m still sitting on you!”

“Tests?” Ruggie ignored her. “I thought it was against the law to cast Yuu-kun’s magic.”

“You’re all jerks.”

“Like I care.” Leona ignored her. “She hasn’t gotten punished yet, and it’s not like they’ll know. There’s a bunch of stuff I want to try, especially since her magic’s on a completely different destructive level than ours. She pretty much single-handedly took care of that Riddle’s Overblot and his practical magic scores are always top-class.”

“How did you know that!?” Yuu gaped. “And I caught him off guard!”

“Don’t underestimate our territory’s information gathering,” Ruggie finally took pity on her. “People’ll trade info more easily than you can imagine.”

“So you’re the one who told him!?”

“Anyway, I can’t let such a weapon just sit there without at least figuring it out,” Leona’s unpleasant grin was back in his voice. “So I’ll start you off against Ruggie and see what you’ve got, herbivore.”

“Um, what about my human right of freedom?” Yuu tried, giving up her struggling and collapsing against his front unceremoniously. It sort of hurt. Stupid muscles.

“It’s not like you aren’t interested too. Can you use your stick with those bandages?”

“It’s a wand. And I guess…”

“Yuu-kun might sit on her magic without using it for her whole life and not care, but power is almost everything here in NRC,” Ruggie seemed enthused enough about the idea. “Have you cast defensive magic across the doors and windows?”

“Finished it all this morning,” Leona released her. “Unless she does that last thing that killed the Blot behind me, I don’t think anything’s gonna break.”

“I usually try not to use strong Dark Magic like _Sectumsempra_ unless I really have to,” Yuu explained, “you won’t have to worry about that.”

“Whoa, there,” Leona said mildly, looking down into her face from above. “What’s Dark Magic?”

—

“Other than curse magic—or incantations, as it’s called—I do not believe I have heard of anything like the categories ‘Dark’ or ‘Light’ magic,” Tsuno-tarou responded bemusedly. “What a strange question, human child. Wherefore do you ask?”

With his arrival, the clouds sweeping across the sky overlooking Ramshackle had cleared up a good deal, giving her a clear view of the bright green of his slit-pupiled eyes shaded by long lashes. As usual, he appeared and disappeared quietly enough to make her jump.

“Just wondering,” Yuu shrugged, gazing at the yellow-green lights dancing in front of them, “since I don’t have any points of reference for magic in this world.”

Leona and Ruggie had both been surprised when she’d mentioned the distinctions between Dark Magic other categories within the wizarding world. The former snorted and told her how much he thought of that—“All magic can be used to harm anyone,” he’d said flatly. Yuu agreed with him, although she also mentioned recent efforts to ensure that it was known that Dark did not mean ‘evil’. With how backwards wizarding societies could be, she wasn’t too hopeful for quick opinion reform.

“It is so easy for humans…and other creatures,” Tsuno-tarou added as an afterthought, “to try and sort things into categories. Good and evil magic does not exist, neither are they distinguished by their colour. You would do well to keep this in mind.”

“You’re right, of course,” she nodded, smothering a shiver. “…Tsuno-tarou, aren’t you cold? I have a coat today, but you’re in your uniform as usual.”

Yuu was perched on the warped fence surrounding Ramshackle’s yard so she could move her line of vision a little closer to his considerable height. Tsuno-tarou blinked at her in apparent surprise before he smiled. “…Human child, are you worried about me? Something as insignificant as the temperature will not affect me.”

“You sure are proud of yourself,” Yuu commented, “Just be careful not to catch a cold.”

Tsuno-tarou apparently enjoyed prowling around campus at night, looking for ruins (of which Ramshackle was the best before she took up residence in it). Yuu wondered when he slept, since Diasomnia’s dormitory building was at least half an hour’s walk from here to the Hall of Mirrors. Yet Tsuno-tarou never looked tired or ruffled from his impeccably trimmed appearance.

“It’s quite mysterious,” he commented now, leaning against the fence next to her with a creak. “has anyone told you the calming effect you have on others?”

“Calming effect? Not…” Yuu remembered Charlie Weasley telling her with a grin that the dragons were unusually well-behaved around her. “For animals, maybe?”

“Like Silver,” he murmured.

“Sorry?”

“Usually, it’s not good for me to be around others so often,” Tsuno-tarou told her as if sharing a secret. “Therefore, it’s quite rare for me to have bumped into you three times already in the past month.”

“Why? There’s nothing wrong with you,” Yuu blinked. “And I’m lucky we’ve been able to talk sometimes when I take nightly walks. I’m actually thinking about taking walks more often so I can catch a glimpse of you.”

“Ha ha ha. Truly, you have no fear.” Tsuno-tarou showed sharpened canines when he threw his head back and laughed. “Why, human child. You need just call. If I feel so inclined, coming to visit you is not out of the question.”

“Yeah, but I don’t have a phone,” she said sheepishly. “I came to this planet without any possessions, you know?”

“…Hmm. That is quite unfortunate.” He let it go. “Human child, you have been looking more ragged than usual this past week. Did you not say those bandages were to come off this week?”

“Tomorrow. …Last time I told you I’m doing a part-time job here, right?” Yuu grimaced. “I messed up so I’m getting really worked to the bone this week. Next Monday’s the last day of that so I should be fine next week.”

“Very well.” Tsuno-tarou paused, as if beginning to ask a question, before he shook his head with a self-deprecating smile.

Yuu tilted her head at him in question. “I’m always wondering what you’re thinking,” she confessed. “I’ve never met someone with horns before.”

“What do horns have to do with my thought process?” he blinked at her before letting out a short laugh. “…Although I’ll admit, I am also slow at reading the thoughts of others.”

“Before I came to this world I had little interest in other people, but everything here is so new and different, I’ve gotten a lot more social? Daring? Something like that.” Yuu explained. “So I’ve been finding myself just asking whatever comes to mind recently.”

“You do ask me an unlimited fountain of questions.” Tsuno-tarou looked amused.

“Did I annoy you?” she asked sheepishly.

“Far from it.” A faint wind stirred his hair as Tsuno-tarou looked into the distance with unfocused eyes. “Ask anything you wish. …When we speak, occasionally I even forget the passage of time.”

“I feel that all the time,” she nodded vigorously. “Especially since I’ve come here. It’s already been over two months…can you believe it?”

“A blink of an eye,” he sounded like he meant it. “I would have liked to seen you at the opening ceremony, human child. Your first impressions of this world seem humorous enough to watch.”

“Oh, uh…it was probably a good thing you didn’t,” Yuu winced. “Me and my partner sort of caused a mess.”

“…Don’t say that,” he blinked several times in apparent surprise. “Retell it for me. You’re making me curious.”

Yuu’s cheeks were beginning to lose feeling, so she invited Tsuno-tarou inside for hot cocoa and regaled him with the events of the first day she had spent in this world. Despite everything he said about not enjoying loud spaces and the company of others, he made an excellent listener. At the end of it he made that slightly surprised expression she was getting used to and repeated, “I would have liked to have seen it.”

“If you were there we might have made friends right away,” Yuu commented. “I don’t know why, but I really like you a lot, Tsuno-tarou. Maybe it’s the horns.”

At this, he went still with the cup halfway to his mouth.

Yuu blinked across from the coffee table he was sitting at. “Tsuno-tarou?”

“…It is an honour,” he said finally, a grave note in his voice.

“Sorry?”

“You are perhaps the first human to say so of their own volition.” Tsuno-tarou set the cup down and smiled back at her. “And to offer me food and drink so guilelessly. Tell me, human child, what do you want from me?”

“What do I…” Yuu repeated, not really understanding what he was asking. “I guess I just want to listen to you talk. And tell me about this world and its magic. It’s so interesting.”

“You find this world interesting?” Tsuno-tarou leaned back against the couch he reclined on, looking starkly out of place on the white-and-black stripes. “…It would be nice if there were more things that could keep my interest.”

The coldness in his eyes as he spoke surprised her. Yuu searched for a topic to remove it. “Umm. That’s right. Tsuno-tarou, do you ever get the feeling that you’re living in a dream?”

“What a strange question,” he blinked and the frost was gone from his expression. “…Your reason for asking is?”

“When I first came here back in September,” she explained, “I was half-convinced I was dreaming. That this world wasn’t real…that maybe I’d even died.”

“Indeed, travelling worlds is no simple feat, even to me,” Tsuno-tarou murmured. “You wish to know if this world is real or not?”

“I guess I want to know what you think.” Yuu liked to listen to Tsuno-tarou’s voice, and he always had something compelling about the way he spoke that convinced her of its value. “I have a lot of…weird dreams here. Sometimes I wonder if I’m starting to lose my grip on reality.”

After she’d said it Yuu realised how serious she was. Despite never being one for debating the philosophy behind existence and its reasoning, for she didn’t find it useful (though esoterically interesting), Tsuno-tarou had managed to pry out a bit of her uncharacteristic wondering without even prompting.

Travelling across worlds was not good for sanity. Yuu could suffer through as many nightmares as nights she slept, but sometimes the weight of the consequences of her presence here in this world could get to her.

It had been two months, and she wasn’t any closer to getting back.

And Yuu should have felt a sense of urgency she was sorely missing.

Tsuno-tarou himself regarded her with those piercing green eyes. He was always a good listener, patiently accompanying her through her deluge of inane questions and never once dismissing her like many of the residents here were apt to do. Perhaps this was what made it so easy to talk to him—because she had the strange feeling that for once, someone actually understood her on a deeply personal level.

“…You’re bringing too much burden on your shoulders,” he summarized for her after scrutinizing her face. “Human child, it is not good to take too much upon oneself at once. Whether this world is real or not, whether the world is ending or not…whether you are the cause or not…does not matter as much as your well-being.”

Sometimes this person said some really amazing things with a straight face, Yuu thought, gaping at him. “My well being is more important than the end of the _world_?”

“You know it won’t end that easily,” Tsuno-tarou gave her a wry smile. “People have tried to destroy it.”

There was really nothing to say to that. Sometimes Tsuno-tarou seemed to speak through years and leagues she did not know, and as interesting as it was, there was an unspeakable weight behind his words that prevented easy asking.

“…Plus, I’m fine, you know,” she added belatedly.

“That’s another bad habit you should break,” Tsuno-tarou commented. “Though I should not say anything, since we are much similar in our regard to walk alone.”

“Alone…?”

“Because you and me…” he murmured contemplatively. “We’re both alone, are we not? In the end.”

“That can’t be good for your mental health,” Yuu protested, because he might have been right. “And it’s going to lead me to rambling about the nature of reality again.”

“Reality?” Tsuno-tarou made an elegant exhale that somehow managed to convey amusement and derision at the same time. “Child’s play. Right now, what matters is you who is talking to me, and me who is talking to you. Can you prove that anything else exists at all?”

“Everything exists. The kitchen I made hot cocoa in, the cold outside, the other students…Grim, sleeping upstairs.”

“You ‘assume’,” Tsuno-tarou challenged her, leaning his chin on one hand propped up on his leg. “That is your mental fashioning of some caricature of reality. For you cannot prove that your partner is upstairs as you say.”

“Do things need proof to exist?”

“Can you say things exist without proof?”

“Yeah, I can. Or else how do I describe the past that has created me?” Yuu challenged back.

“Exist _ed_ is not the same as _exists_ ,” the Diasomnia student shook his head indulgently at her. “You have much to learn, little human female. Being cursed with a busy mind, however, is dangerous. You would do well to relax your thoughts once in a while lest it drives you mad.”

“This is Wonderland,” Yuu pointed out. “Aren’t you all mad here?”

“Indeed. Reality or not, madness or not, we live here,” Tsuno-tarou laughed. “And an otherworlder such as you, little Alice, should stop thinking too much as you wade through this world.”

—

“It’s the freakin’ _weekend_!” Ace cheered, flinging his duffel bag on her creaky doorstep with abandon.

“Oi, careful, you’ll break something,” Deuce cautioned from her other side. “Are you sure Ramshackle got renovated, Yuu? It looks as fragile to me as ever.”

“They only did the inside,” Yuu explained, Grim nodding vigorously on her shoulder. “Probably because it would be too obvious if the yard and outside was done too. Leona-senpai’s nothing if not sneaky.”

“I still don’t know how you managed to make friends…friends? With the dudes who injured you,” Ace grumbled.

“Tell me about it,” Grim sighed. “Last time he did this was with that Riddle. And before that with you, Ace.”

Deuce snickered.

“Hey!” Ace protested. “I didn’t break his ankle!”

“It was a sprain,” Yuu protested on Ruggie’s behalf.

“Unlike Ace, I won’t bully you,” Deuce promised her.

“You piece of—”

“Hey Ace and Deuce!” Grim complained, still unhappy. “You say something to my stupid henchman. About not trusting those Savanaclaw…argh! He smells like them _all_ the _time_!”

“I do?” Yuu sniffed her sleeve. “No I don’t.”

“Yeah he does!” Grim crossed his arm sulkily. “Stupid lion predator. The only one who can cuddle with Yuu is me.”

“Grim _really_ doesn’t like Kingscholar-senpai,” Deuce blinked, ignoring Ace, who was pointing both middle fingers at him. “Still…Yuu, he’s not wrong. That dorm is dangerous and they’re not trustworthy.”

“Yeah they are,” Yuu protested.

“No they’re not,” Ace sighed. “…Grim, give it up. You already know Yuu’s just like…this. Instead of arguing with him about it, it’s more effective to just protect him from any fallout.”

“Really,” she insisted, “I know you guys have a bad opinion of Leona-senpai but—”

“ _Aah_ , okay, okay. We get it, big fluffy lion Therianthrope is secretly a softie on the inside,” Ace flung an arm around her shoulders and nudged her forwards. “And he even gave your dorm a facelift. Well? Let us in already. I want the grand tour.”

“Leave it to me,” Grim puffed up his chest importantly.

Ace and Deuce had begged permission from Trey (who was much easier to convince than Riddle) for a weekend sleepover. They’d made a beeline for Ramshackle after club activities to meet Yuu, who was on her way back from getting one last check of her wounds from Crewel after her bandages had come off in the morning. His work had been more impressive than she could have imagined—Yuu’s arms and fingers were smooth without a hint of scarring and somehow her skin seemed to feel even softer than before. Grim had rubbed his cheeks all over them, relieved to be freed from any chafing of fabric.

Once inside, her friends were satisfactorily flabbergasted at the extent of the changes Ramshackle had undergone the week she lived within Heartslabyul. Deuce muttered something about not expecting the renovations to be _this_ thorough while Ace gave her a long considering look.

“…I didn’t expect him to like you _this_ much,” he commented, furrowing a brow. “No wonder you trust him.”

“See what I mean?” Grim said plaintively.

“This might be a problem in the future,” Ace nodded contemplatively.

Yuu looked between the two of them as Deuce gaped up at the chandeliers, confused. “What? What are you talking about?”

“But Yuu likes me the best, so it’s fine for now,” Ace ignored her.

“ _Funa!?_ My henchman likes _me_ the best!”

“You tried to attack him during the opening ceremony!”

“Well _you_ insulted him and bullied him the first time you met!”

“You’ve got poor taste in friends,” commented Deuce from beside her, having finished his perusal. “It’s a good thing I’m around to balance things out. You like me the best, right, Yuu?”

“Aaah!” Ace and Grim shouted simultaneously. “Stop pulling a head start!”

“You guys are so weird,” Yuu squinted at them. “I like all of you. A lot. You should know that by now.”

“Yeah, but how much?” Ace squinted at her. “You gotta choose.”

“Ace sounds like a hysterical spouse,” Deuce commented. “ _Which is more important to you? Your job, or me?!_ ”

Ace cleared his throat and adopted a falsetto. “How could you choose _that_ over me?!” he shrilled, pointing at Deuce with disgust curling his lip. “I’m better than him in every way!”

“Unlike someone who always complains,” Deuce crossed his arms smugly, “I’m actually _useful_ and _good-looking_.”

“Girls, you’re both pretty,” she rolled her eyes, “but jokes aside, I’d do anything for you. You’re the best friends I’ve ever had. And you, Grim, are my best partner.”

“Not just you being stupidly nice again?” Grim squinted.

“I’m not _nice_ ,” she threw her hands up exasperatedly. “…Okay, you want proof? Let me show you something.”

The afternoon tour of Ramshackle took the better part of an hour. Deuce was happiest about the fully loaded kitchen—“This means you can make me omurice _all the time_ ,” he’d whispered in awe—and Ace was ecstatic about the enlarged and re-framed king-sized bed that had replaced the creakier old one. The two of them started debating among themselves whether they should collect enough money to get a TV set up against the wall for movie marathons and gaming tournaments as she showed them to the vacated rooms (and the ones ‘occupied’ by Ghosts). Neither of them doubted for a single moment that they’d be crashing over in Yuu’s master bedroom, though; they’d gotten far too used to sleeping in a huddle and Yuu herself was fond of feeling surrounded while she slept. It kept the nightmares away.

“So this is what I wanted to show you,” she slid her wand out of her sleeve and waved it. The three of them were drinking hot apple cider in the kitchen as the sun fell outside (Grim’s sensitive tongue encouraged him to wait until his had cooled). Ace and Deuce watched as what looked like a heavy stone basin floated slowly through the doorway and settled down on the island with a _thump_.

“Looks like some old urn belonging to a museum,” Ace commented.

“I thought it was one of those old-fashioned washroom sinks,” Deuce blew at his steaming mug gingerly.

“Found it in the storage now that every room in this place is explorable. I’m not done yet,” Yuu explained, “but I’m enchanting it. Remember how you guys said you wanted to know about me?”

“What does a stone pot have to do with it?” Deuce said blankly.

“It’s not a pot,” Grim piped up. “Henchman has been muttering over it for like three days now with his stick. Apparently it lets you see his memories.”

Yuu explained the overarching properties of a Pensieve to a fascinated-looking Ace and Deuce, showing them the beginnings of a series of Runes she was carving in the side with her wand. She had become aware (thanks to Heartslabyul’s—Riddle’s—intervention) of how terrible she was at articulating herself, but to respond to her friends’ worry and interest towards her, the only other way for them to know about her in an unbiased manner was to view her memories themselves. The only way other than Legilimency, which wasn’t possible for magicians in this world, had to be the rare magical artifact known as the Pensieve.

“I actually came up with the idea while I was reading about gems in the library,” Yuu explained. “Ruggie-senpai was talking about how first-years start condensing solid crystals from potions in alchemy class starting November. With pure gemstones fixed in the side, four or five series of Runes, and magic, it’s possible to create a Pensieve. Theoretically it’s now possible for me to start enchanting it now and affix any gems I manage to make later. It won’t be a very good one, though it beats nothing.”

“So you’re saying,” Ace squinted in the empty stone basin, “This thing can show us your memories?”

“It’s really hard to enchant,” Yuu winced, “and is probably going to take a long time to finish. But I can pull memories from my mind and store them in here for third person viewing that removes some of my own opinions and shows you what really happened. I don’t really like tampering with my mind, but it’s easy enough to pull a memory out and put it in. Then, anyone who wants to view it just puts their face into the surface.”

“That sounds amazing!” Deuce gaped at her. “Yuu…are you a really good magician back in your world?”

“Wit…wizard,” she corrected. “No, I’m pretty average. But I like reading and ask everyone too many questions. So my Headmaster taught me some things about Pensieves a while ago.”

“Wait,” Ace frowned. “Are you sure you can just leave something like this lying around? Especially with your memories in it? Anyone could see it.”

“People usually have them locked up safe,” she shrugged. “It’s not even half-done yet so I wouldn’t worry too much. Plus, I can put memories back into my head once we’re done.”

“I don’t really get it,” Grim declared. He started sipping at his mug. “And who cares about memories? My henchman’s the same person anyway.

“Grim,” Yuu cast him a fond glance, “really doesn’t care whether he sees my memories or not. Isn’t he cute?”

“Oh boy, Yuu’s lecture on Grim’s cuteness has started again,” Ace said with a long-suffering groan. “He’s just a cheeky furball, in my opinion.”

“Yuu likes me better than Ace,” Grim said smugly, draining half his mug in one shot.

“Like hell he does.”

“I’m doing this for you,” Yuu told them solemnly after a brief squabble between them. “It’s really tough, but you said you wanted to know more about me. Ace, Deuce. Grim. I’d do anything for you. Do you believe me now?”

“How ’bout my homework?” Ace grinned at her audaciously.

“Ace!” Deuce cleared his throat and met her eye. “…Me too, Yuu. After seeing your resolve, it wouldn’t be right not to respond with the same. After all we’ve been through, we’re in this together ‘til the end.”

“Deuce,” Yuu beamed at him.

“So you’d betray Leona-senpai for us? What about Dorm Head?” Ace leaned over the island, his eyes narrowing wickedly.

Yuu stared him in the eye, having been prepared a question like this from him. “If there are no other alternatives? Probably. I mean it.”

He hadn’t been expecting the response. Yuu had the pleasure of watching Ace’s face go slack in utter surprise before he let out a short laugh and shook his head. “…Okay,” he said in a much more subdued voice. “Got it.”

She grinned at him. “Good.”

After a week stuffed full of shifts at Mostro Lounge and frantically scrambling to pick up her lost progress in classes, Yuu was more than happy to let loose during the weekend and mess around with her friends. Though Jack was serious and his personality more like hers, Yuu could not trade Ace’s and Deuce’s trouble-causing tendencies for the world. She’d missed Heartslabyul, but having her best friends with her for two days of comparative debauchery felt like coming home.

Maybe Tsuno-tarou was right. Maybe she was thinking too much.

After sleeping in until noon Saturday, the four of them scarfed down stacks of waffles for brunch and left the dorm to play Magift outside, with her condition that it was field-only. Yuu did not enjoy ride-alongs, especially with people who couldn’t control the broom properly like Ace, Deuce and Grim—even flying with Leona, who was so good at it that he _stood_ on his broom, was less than desirable.

Yuu had also begun the process of enchanting a broom the way she’d been taught at Mahoutokoro, though her dislike for flying made it slow going. This enchantment was on the request of Leona who had been serious about researching her magic in every way possible. The one she was working on more earnestly was lying around in Leona’s room after the last magic research session with him and Ruggie, but Ace and Deuce wanted to see what it was like, so she tried to do a second one to show her friends.

Unfortunately, Yuu wasn’t motivated that day as much as she was punch-drunk from the excitement of the weekend. The resulting explosion set fire to the dead grass in the yard, blasted the broom into a thousand shards of wood, and brought out a flurry of startled Ghosts wondering what had happened.

Ace and Deuce laughed so hard they fell over, rolling on what remained of the yard, before Yuu turned their hair pink in retaliation. Saturday concluded with an ungainly three-way fight between them, lasting well past sundown. One could say what they wanted about Ace and Deuce, but their practical magic abilities were top-class in the first year. Even Grim was getting better with aiming his fireballs. Yuu gave him the nickname Grim-chu from the game the four of them had played back in Heartslabyul, which made Ace call Deuce ‘Juice-mon-lee’ until Deuce turned on him with a battle cry.

Predictably, Ace and Deuce had argued with her about coming back to Heartslabyul for another week, tempting both of them with Trey’s food (which Grim had been convinced by for a while until she shook her head). Yuu thumped them both with pillows, then suggested out of spite that they move into Ramshackle, which had been a joke until both of them started considering the idea seriously. Even now, their overnight bags sat unpacked in a corner of her room since, according to Deuce, “We’re coming back soon anyway. Right?”

Unlike Ace, who said those things on purpose, Deuce seemed to have no realization of the gravity of his own words and actions, which made it harder for Yuu to argue back at him.

Still, her friends had managed to make their way into NRC for a reason—they were shrewd enough to act on things they wanted to do. Plans were already underway for the moving of a television and home theatre into her room; they’d even set up a Madol jar in her kitchen to save up for it. Deuce had asked ostensibly if Ramshackle even possessed magic stone-electrical wiring, but Ruggie had taken care of the circuitry with whatever people he’d hired. Yuu had given up asking how they got people into the school. Some things she’d never know.

By the time A-Deuce combo left Sunday night—they should have returned in the morning, but all of them had slept in again—whining about Riddle and homework, Yuu had forgotten all about her stress. Grim had tired himself out enough running around with the three of them to conk out early on her pillow as she hummed and washed dishes magically in the kitchen in high spirits.

Currently she was wearing an oversized scarlet hoodie that Deuce had left her over one of Ace’s old shirts—ignoring the HEARTSLABYUL lettering splashed across the back, it was startlingly comfortable (if too big) and more-or-less fended off the cold. As Ramshackle was under Crowley’s fairy-powered temperature-managing spells along with the rest of the school buildings, the dorm didn’t drop too far below room temperature, but Yuu wasn’t too fond of the winter chill. Grim usually provided a living furnace, but he was also usually asleep.

More importantly, the clothes smelled like her friends and that was good enough for her to hum to herself in glee. Cold or not, she would be wearing these extras for a long time.

Ramshackle felt empty and too large without Ace and Deuce, although a stray Ghost would sometimes show up to chat (and mostly make fun of) her. Times like these were perfect for a walk.

Dishes done, Yuu stretched, pulled on Jack’s coat, and headed for the door. She’d slept too long today, and there was somewhere she wanted to go.

—

Yuu had not been lying when she said she was trying to get a glimpse of Tsuno-tarou by walking outside more often in the evenings. Now equipped with Jack’s coat, it was much easier to withstand the deepening November chill.

Back in October when they’d first met, Yuu hadn’t had the opportunity to look for him, as she’d fallen from the stairs soon after. Now, in between devouring her fascinating stack of materials about Therianthropes and the history of the Afterglow Savannah, she would instead pace around the perimeter of the fence alongside Ramshackle’s (pitiful) yard looking for a tall figure with horns.

She was from a different world—but Yuu thought that Tsuno-tarou was the one who looked removed, otherworldly, _interesting_. He struck every Ravenclaw part of her that sought knowledge because she could sense that he had buckets of it. And not just on gargoyles, either, though he was more than happy to launch into hours of lecturing on the bas-reliefs carved on Ramshackle’s outer walls and elsewhere.

Something was compelling about Tsuno-tarou. Yet he said he had trouble making friends and socializing, which was frankly a waste since anyone should be interested in making friends with someone who had _horns_. Even the rest of NRC didn’t have something this cool growing out from their head.

It was different from the instinctive way Yuu became friends with Ace and Deuce. But perhaps Trey was right—she moved from thought to action quickly. When Yuu decided she liked someone, that was that. Whether it was Riddle, Ruggie, Azul, or now the tall Diasomnia student whose name she didn’t know, interesting people gave Yuu impetus enough to seek them out proactively.

Perhaps because of the cold, the night’s cloudy sky was devoid of the phantom yellow-green darting lights that often appeared around Ramshackle. Yuu pushed open the fence, glancing at the watch Ace had given her carelessly, and decided she might as well pace out the febrile energy still remaining in her body from their weekend adventures.

No more than five minutes through her walk around the north end of Ramshackle’s perimeter, distant strains of shouting reached Yuu’s comparatively weak human ears. With the hood of Jack’s coat flipped up due to the chill, she thought it might be her mind playing tricks on her until another shout echoed more clearly over to her direction.

“ _—sama! …Waka-sama! WAKA-SAMA!_ ”

Yuu squinted into the darkness. _Young Master?_

“ _Waka-sama!_ Please respond if you can hear me!” the masculine voice became clearer as it neared.

There was no shortage of ‘rich boys,’ as Leona liked to call them (albeit with less disgust than Ruggie), in Night Raven College. However, Yuu had never heard anyone referring to someone else as formally as Young Master, not even when referring to Riddle, who was the only son of one of the wealthiest families known within the Kingdom of Roses. She flipped back her hood in curiosity just as someone wearing what looked like a military uniform rounded a bend and became visible.

Yuu recognized him immediately as one of the Diasomnia students who had been present during Leona’s Overblot. Not quite as tall as Jack, he was nevertheless solidly built wearing its uniform and boots, pastel green hair slicked severely back from a strong brow.

More importantly, she didn’t remember if he had been present when she started using magic. In hindsight, it hadn’t been the smartest decision to fly off the handle back then, but the past was over with. Still, it was probably best to be cautious around this green-haired stranger.

The student noticed her before she could do more than blink and turned in her direction. “—Human!” he yelled in a carrying voice. “Have you seen Waka-sama?”

“Sorry,” she responded after a delay. “I have no idea who that is.”

“WHAT!?” Two strides brought him straight up to her face; in the flickering lamplight his pupils contracted vertically like a cat’s. “You…wait. You’re the human who can’t use magic!”

“That’s me,” Yuu nodded bemusedly.

The student released a dismissive breath as he looked down his nose at her. “To think that a famous school such as Night Raven College would stoop as low as allowing a non-magical human to enter its premises…I can scarcely believe it.”

By now, Yuu was so used to everyone being insulting whether they meant it or not—examples of insulting people included everyone from Octavinelle, everyone from Savanaclaw, Ace and Riddle—that she merely blinked and let it pass. “So, um, who are you?”

“Sebek Zigvolt!” he bellowed, straightening. “First Year, Class D. That’s not important right now…nor is your pitiful status as a Directing Student!”

“So you know who I am,” she muttered.

“Human!” The newly named Sebek seemed to have misplaced the limiter on his voice; every one of his sentences was overly loud and pronounced. “How can you say you do not know Waka-sama?! You’re not _lying_ , are you?”

“I don’t know much about anything related to magic,” Yuu’s voice sounded like a mosquito’s quiet hum next to his shouting. “Why would I lie to you?”

“ _Mu._ Indeed! However!! It is difficult for me to forgive that there is anyone, human or not, who is unaware of Waka-sama’s excellence. Listen well, human! Waka-sama is _amazing_!”

According to Sebek Zigvolt, the Young Master whom he served was a student at NRC who outpaced every other student in kindness, power, and nobility. He was also a Fairy—once again, Sebek used the Japanese phrase that could mean anything from ‘elf’ to ‘fairy’ to ‘sprite’. Yuu hadn’t had a chance to research the Fey yet.

She had been quite confused on this name for a long time, so Yuu took this opportunity to ask him curiously just what a Twisted Wonderland version of a Fairy _was_. Unfortunately, the fellow first-year wasn’t as helpful as he was emotive, and it seemed that he himself had grown up so closely to those of Fey lineage that it was difficult for him to articulate what made the species distinctive. Perhaps he was even a Fairy himself.

Maybe she’d ask Tsuno-tarou next time. He seemed a lot more knowledgeable than Sebek, though the latter made up for it in enthusiasm.

Sebek Zigvolt was yet another kind of person Yuu had not encountered before she came to NRC. For all of his loudness and slightly insulting statements, he didn’t seem to mean her any ill will and spoke formally enough for her to guess he himself was of a well-educated upbringing. More than anything, he absolutely _loved_ this person he called Young Master and was more than happy to talk at length about how strong, how kind, how learned this person was despite having met her properly for the first time that night.

“In fact, he was kind enough to…” Sebek’s sentence cut off abruptly and his temples tightened in a glare. “HUMAN! I have no time to be talking to you right now when I should be looking for Waka-sama!”

“Is he in the area or something?” Yuu, who was still a little overwhelmed by his volume, glanced around them.

“…That’s none of your business! Waka-sama has been more active at night recently, but it’s my duty to be able to find him,” Sebek sniffed. “Human! Study up on Waka-sama’s feats. What I’ve told you is only the barest beginning of his greatness!”

“Your Young Master is an upperclassman here?” Yuu clarified.

But Sebek wasn’t listening. “If that Silver finds him before me, I’ll suffer the most ignominious defeat of my life,” he was muttering (loudly) under his breath. “Good evening, human! Try not to be killed due to your magical incompetence!”

“He sure moves fast,” Yuu commented into thin air as Sebek Zigvolt disappeared the way he came. It seemed that with loud first-years, mysterious Young Masters and Lilia Vanrouge, Diasomnia was a dormitory full of secrets.

It took her until the end of her walk to realize she’d forgotten to figure out whether he had seen her use magic or not. Sebek didn’t seem aware—calling her a useless human several times—but that didn’t mean the other student present was unaware either. Yuu, having stood through a good half hour of Sebek’s lecture, was too tired to care too much. After a hot shower and crawling beneath her clean bedsheets, she shut her eyes and drifted blissfully out from consciousness.

—

“So you managed to survive the week,” Azul commented from behind his desk as Yuu slumped on one of the arms of a sofa, sagging. “Impressive, Yuu-san. Although your posture leaves something to be desired.”

“Spare me, please,” she groaned. “I’m busy trying not to fall asleep.”

“And it looks like those bandages are gone. I was afraid you really were going to turn into a mummy at this rate.”

Too tired to respond to his casual insulting of her person, Yuu put her head against the back of the sofa she was leaning on and shut her eyes.

The end of her nightmare week of make-ups at Mostro Lounge finished without any further incident. Yuu didn’t know if Azul just got his highs from seeing others in pain or if he really was ‘merciful’ as his dorm implied, but after calling her into his office post Monday’s busy evening shift, he had already drawn up her next schedules for the coming months and its compensation plan.

It seemed her ‘punishment’ was finally over.

Yuu listened blearily while he insulted the bags deepening under her eyes and explained the schedule and contract in detail—“With clauses for injury and sickness, this time,” he’d sniffed superciliously—and refrained from pointing out that Azul, too, was developing a nice set of purple smudges under his own brilliant silver-blue eyes.

If it was Floyd or Jade behind the huge wooden desk, Yuu would have left long ago. But against all of the reasons to dislike him, Azul was someone she respected, and against all odds, _liked_. It didn’t make much sense when he was busy running her into the ground and plotting ways to scrape more money off of the students visiting his café, and Azul made clear how disdainful he was of her all around as a human being.

Yuu was once again surprised by the frequency of which she felt positive emotion for people in this school. Back in Hogwarts she had little affection for other humans, little interaction or desire for it. The only reason she’d made friends with Fred II was because they both valued their interests above all else—the reason she’d taken Scorpius under her wing was because he’d reminded her so closely of herself. She didn’t _feel_ for any of them the way she adored Grim, Ace, Deuce…

In a short amount of time, the people living in this school had attached themselves to her without her noticing.

“What?” Azul snapped when she continued to stare drowsily at him. “If you have any clauses you’re not satisfied with, just looking at me isn’t going to make me change them.”

“Senpai, do you ever sleep?” Yuu asked abruptly, rubbing tiredly at her eyes.

“…I fail to see how that is relevant to the situation,” Azul’s frown deepened.

“If I’m tired, I can’t even begin to imagine how tired _you_ are, Owner,” she clarified. “And recently you look like you’ve been working nonstop. Lack of sleep is really bad for the body, you know.”

“I haven’t fallen so far as to be pitied by someone like _you_ ,” Azul sniffed. “It’s none of your business, but I am currently working on the final steps for my next venture which is already looking to be the most ambitious project I have taken yet. Besides, we don’t need as much sleep as humans.”

“Next venture?” Yuu repeated with a blink. “For the café?”

“For the consulting business.” Azul corrected.

“Seriously…no matter how little sleep you need, churning out work on a twenty-four-hour basis is going to make you sick,” Yuu tried again. “You’re already amazing enough, Ashengrotto-senpai. How much more do you want to do?”

“You always spout empty praises,” he rolled his eyes. “Yuu-san, you’re the one who is so insistent on calling me impressive all hours of the day. Do you really think someone that amazing would be satisfied with this little?”

“Also the greediest person I’ve ever met,” she added weakly.

“I prefer to call it motivation, thank you.”

During the month and a half Yuu had been acquainted with Azul—and the two and a half in this world—she hadn’t been shy about her blunt remarks. It had landed her in trouble during Riddle’s Overblot and gotten her into a fight with Leona after she insulted him. In Azul’s case it was a little different; if Yuu wasn’t afraid to insult, she was even more blunt about praising what she believed was something worthy of it.

Deuce was often on the receiving end of positive remarks when he struggled through his homework. Grim got it all the time since he was cute and fluffy. Ruggie was what all Ravenclaws should aspire to be like in her opinion, and Azul Ashengrotto probably received the brunt of her inadvertent applauding because he worked harder than anyone she’d seen in her entire life.

Her first words to him before their interview had been impressed ones—he didn’t react then, and afterwards when she extolled his virtues, he’d looked at her as if she were something on the heel of his shoe. Still, Yuu wasn’t sensitive enough to stop blurting out what she wanted to, so eventually Octavinelle’s Dorm Head got used to it.

Now when she lauded his diligence and called him amazing, he merely sighed and said something like “Yes, I’ve heard it all before,” or smirked unpleasantly at her and asked her if she was willing to work harder for someone so remarkable.

This meant Yuu’s post-shift visits to his office-slash-VIP Room continued where she would wait for him to finish his paperwork before they discussed things such as her schedule, payments, and menus. There was something comforting about watching another person so concentrated on their work across from her; to Yuu, it displayed his vitality as the white fishbone pen moved across yellow sheets of paper.

Therefore, regardless of it eating into her free time in the evenings, Yuu had accidentally created a habit of perching on the arm of the plush couches, surveying Azul through blurry vision until she fell asleep or he began to lecture her for being so defenceless.

“So you’re tired. Do you need help?” she asked with a yawn as they finished up the signatures and finalized plans.

Azul blinked at her over his clear lenses. “I’m sorry?”

“For your…um…venture? I am a worker here, right?” Yuu shrugged. “I don’t remember if you said I’d have to help with your side consulting business.”

“Are you a fool?”

“It was just a question,” she said mildly.

“I sometimes forget that you know nothing about this school…” Azul pinched the bridge of his nose briefly. “Yuu-san…you should at least try and figure out what the reputation of Octavinelle is like here.”

“I didn’t even realise the school was a boy’s school until almost October,” Yuu shrugged. “I don’t particularly care about social situations since I’ve always been an outcast anyway.”

“October!? …Start caring,” he snapped, “you’re going to give someone a heart attack one day.”

Trey had told her not to care so much about these things during her stay, though. Yuu squinted at him in confusion. “What does that mean?”

“…First, allow me to ask. Have you fixed your work relationship with Floyd?” Azul coughed. “An employee who cannot fix their own problems has no prerogative to offer to help with mine.”

Yuu screwed up her face.

Azul’s gaze went flat. “ _That_ bad?”

“No, um, technically I think we’re good now,” she hastened to say, since he looked one step away from firing her. “It’s just…”

“It’s just…?”

Why is your friend so touchy? She wanted to ask. But Yuu was touchy too, so it was rather hypocritical. “…Leech-senpai won’t stop laughing,” she tried instead.

This was true too. Jade found endless humour in Floyd attaching himself to her, insulting her, or generally messing around with her. Both of them looked like they’d discovered a shiny new toy and they wouldn’t leave her alone.

Frankly, it was more exhausting than her shift was.

Azul’s glasses slid down slightly in surprise. He pressed it back up with his second and third fingers. “Laughing?”

“He’s always laughing,” she complained, “ _at_ me!”

“Jade…that’s right, before he did mention…” Azul sighed. “I’ll have to ask him later. Though how someone as ragged as Yuu-san managed to earn his favour so easily escapes my understanding.”

“Hey,” Yuu protested. Favour? More like amusement. “Anyway, I fixed the problem. But you look really tired. Want some help?”

“After you just finished your punishment week, you want _more_ work? Are you a workaholic, Yuu-san?”

“Right back at you, senpai.”

“I should just fire someone impertinent like you,” Azul muttered, running a gloved hand through his wavy hair in irritation. The edge of his polite speech was fraying.

“You wouldn’t do that after you invested so much in me already,” Yuu waved the black portfolio in her hands back and forth. “Not senpai, who only thinks in profits and losses.”

“Very well,” Azul ignored her. He adopted an inordinately ingratiating smile, clasping his gloves overtop the stack of yellow parchment and leaning forwards. “If you _insist_. Yuu-san. Are you not disadvantaged because of your lack of magical education? Unlike us, you did not attend magical schools at any time in your lifespan.”

That wasn’t strictly correct. Yuu was too busy squinting at his sudden attitude change to argue, though. “Okay?”

“That’s where _I_ come in,” Azul narrowed those silver-blue eyes in a smile. “Don’t you wish you had a base for studying that didn’t depend on the way the professors lecture? Don’t you think that it would be useful to have notes to compare yours to? Isn’t it tough to keep up in a famous private school like Night Raven College?”

“I mean, it’s tough, but I like studying,” she tried.

He steamrolled over her. “Since it’s you, I’m sure none of Jade’s, Floyd’s or the other students’ advertising has reached you yet. So I will tell you directly. This exam season, our consulting business has you covered for the exams. We _guarantee_ you a high mark with our perfect notes.”

“That’s your next venture?” she guessed as Azul lifted a hand to his chest, looking proud of himself.

“Isn’t it _perfect_ for someone as miserably unfortunate as you?” he crooned. “Oh, poor, sad Yuu-san…left all alone in a world he doesn’t even know! The least I could do is provide an avenue for you to keep up in school.”

“Is this how you act in front of other people?” Yuu squinted at him. Azul had been overly polite during their interview, too, but somewhere along the line he’d dropped the façade. Seeing it back in full swing was rather interesting, if not amusing, to watch.

“If you so desire, I will provide a perfectly made set of notes for your perusal, with questions from exams pulled straight from past school records,” Azul continued to ignore her. He smiled unctuously. “Although of course, an equivalent compensation will be in order.”

“By the way, what kind of compensation would that be?” she asked curiously.

“Usually I would ask for a magic—”

“You can _give_ someone magic!?”

“—but Yuu-san, you have none, so that makes it rather moot. Hmm. Having you locked into work here for the rest of your time in the Twisted Wonderland doesn’t sound so bad,” Azul mused.

Given her lack of monetary funding, Yuu had been planning on working shifts in the Mostro Lounge until she couldn’t anymore anyway. She was sure he was mostly aware of this—if nothing else, Azul was excellent at pinning down others’ weaknesses. True to form, he already looked to be thinking of another suitable promise he could pull out of her.

“Well, since I wasn’t planning on agreeing to the deal anyway,” Yuu shrugged, “you don’t have to waste brainpower thinking.”

Azul dropped the overly simpering demeanour, blinking. “You don’t want the notes?”

“I like studying on my own, anyway,” she explained, “and I’m avoiding failing grades in my classes so I don’t really see the point. You’re totally right that other students would love it through.”

Yuu was here on the Headmaster’s word and as half a student, which meant her grades didn’t matter at all. Grim had his own grades, and she was mostly here as an excuse to research a way home, anyway. But Grim probably needed the notes mostly because he slept through classes.

He, Ace and Deuce, especially, had been having trouble in classes recently. Deuce usually sat with Yuu in the library during nights before quizzes while she walked him over and over across the tested material, but Ace just refused to study, do his homework, or even open up a textbook. He and Grim were unduly excellent at dragging Yuu and Deuce into all sorts of shenanigans, too.

Judging by the state of many of the students trying to avoid studying, she was sure NRC’s slippery students would jump at a chance for Azul’s advertised ‘perfect’ notes. There was no way Yuu was going to tell Grim these resources existed, though. She had no idea what Azul would drag out of him in compensation, and she knew her friends were thoughtless enough to leap at a way to be lazy. Even Deuce, who liked to laud himself as a model student, couldn’t quite shed the shell of his delinquent middle-school self that didn’t study.

Yuu wasn’t going to help them if they didn’t ask, either. She liked hard workers—and people who slacked off and dragged her into fights with upperclassmen (like Ace and Deuce and Grim) deserved the verbal lashings that Trein and Crewel were apt to give.

“Avoiding failing grades? You?” Azul repeated dumbly while Yuu promised herself not to tell her friends about Azul’s notes.

“Just because all of you like to call me stupid all the time doesn’t mean I actually am,” she rolled her eyes, “and my hobby is reading anyway.”

“And here I thought it was angering Floyd,” he said wryly. When tired, Azul was less careful with his words. She liked this part of him better.

“Do you want me to help you with printing the notes or stapling them or anything?” she asked, swinging her aching legs back and forth. “I have no interest nor connections in this school’s residents, so I probably can’t advertise, but you can make me do odd jobs.”

“I have an order in which I print them, so they’re already done,” he said dismissively.

“Then what are you writing?” Yuu asked, pointing at the huge stack of yellow papers piling up on his desk.

Azul smiled unpleasantly. “Contracts.”

“Contracts?”

Before the conversation could continue, two soft knocks sounded on the door. Yuu turned just as Jade poked his head in with a smile. “Azul…and Mister Directing Student. It’s quite late already. Are you not going to return to your room?”

“Thanks to Yuu-san, it’ll take me a while longer,” Azul waved him off. “You can leave if the Lounge’s closed.”

“ _Fu fu._ Azul, too, seems to have taken quite the liking to our Directing Student,” Jade remarked.

“Excuse me? What part of this looks like he _likes_ me?” Yuu spluttered.

“For once, I agree with Yuu-san. Not only is he physically slight and intrusive, but he constantly betrays expectations,” Azul muttered.

“And Ashengrotto-senpai’s favourite pastime is to insult me,” Yuu monotoned.

“Certainly, Mister Directing Student never ceases to amaze,” Jade ignored them, his smile never twitching. “…Azul. I was expecting you to stay late today, so I brewed you a pot of tea. Unfortunately, I only brought one cup, as I wasn’t expecting the Directing Student to be here as well.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Yuu eyed him curiously as he entered the room noiselessly, one hand supporting a tray with a shell-shaped teapot and similar teacup. “Leech-senpai, you can properly brew tea too?”

“ _Oya_. I didn’t expect someone like you to know about the proper methods of tea-brewing,” Jade blinked in pleasant surprise as he sat the tray on the corner of Azul’s desk and poured a fragrant, steaming cup for him.

“I didn’t,” she grinned sheepishly. “Trey-senpai…um, when I was at Heartslabyul, they were pretty fussy about good tea so I ended up picking up a few things.”

“Heartslabyul…hmm. Come to think of it, at the last Dorm Head meeting, Riddle-san was quite vocal about transferring you out of Ramshackle and into his dorm,” Azul mentioned offhandedly.

“He’s still on about that!?” Yuu yelped. “I told them no!”

“It seems that you’ve made friends with one of the most difficult students on campus,” Azul commented as Jade took a seat on the other couch. “Should I congratulate you?”

“Anything pleasant coming out from senpai’s mouth sounds dubious, so no thank you,” Yuu smiled back.

“For someone who praises me all the time you sure don’t hold back with insults,” Azul matched her expression. “Do I have to remind you that I’m your _em-ploy-er_? You should be honoured to receive any words from me at all.”

“You talk too much,” Yuu told him bluntly.

“Why—” Azul bit off his retort and glared at the other couch. “Jade! Stop laughing!”

“ _Fu fu…_ ha ha…I do apologize,” Jade’s voice shook. When she turned to look at him, he had hidden his face with a hand and was leaning down, the dark highlight of his hair shaking with his shoulders. “It has been a long time…since I’ve seen Azul getting along so well with someone else.”

“We’re not getting along,” Yuu pointed out. Jade was always laughing when he was around her.

“We’re _not_ getting along!” Azul snapped simultaneously. “If you’re going to laugh, then collect those contracts I’ve written and sort them for me before you leave. Thanks to Yuu-san, I’m behind on schedule.”

“Of course,” Jade said agreeably.

“You did most of the talking,” she muttered, but zipped her mouth when he turned his glare in her direction. Angry Azul was extremely rare and usually directed at Floyd, but it was scary as hell.

While Yuu tucked her black portfolio into her schoolbag, Jade collected the stacks of yellow parchment—contracts, Azul had said—and began to sort them into piles on the seawater table. Azul massaged his brow as he reached for the teacup and brought it to his nose. She thought she saw his shoulders relax a little.

Jade, Yuu realized, _really_ liked Azul. He’d come in here just to deliver him tea, and though was free to go back to his dorm this late, was instead helping him with his paperwork.

He must have noticed—Jade was far more observant than she, though it pained Yuu to admit it—that Azul was overworking himself. Instead of Yuu’s blunt way of asking about it, though, Jade merely helped out without a word.

And Azul, in turn, had accepted Jade’s help when he hadn’t even looked twice at her. Even now, he was enjoying the tea, massaging the kinks from his shoulders as he left the work to his vice Dorm Head.

The Octavinelle trio were truly close, Yuu thought to herself. It reminded her of the way she, Ace and Deuce fit together like pieces of a puzzle.

He noticed Yuu staring. Jade paused briefly to smile across at her before lowering his head again. “By the way, Mister Directing Student.”

Yuu checked the watch Ace had foisted on her—almost ten. Too late to start on a book when she got back to Ramshackle. “Hmm?”

“How does tomorrow after school sound?”

“Sound for what?” she blinked. “I don’t have a shift tomorrow.”

“Precisely,” Jade’s hands moved as quickly as he sliced vegetables when he sorted documents. “And the weather should be excellent for the last mushroom picking excursion before November’s frost sets in. How about sixteen-o’clock?”

“…Wait a second,” Yuu spluttered, “I thought that was a joke!”

“Jade…?” Azul murmured from his desk.

“Oh my…to think that you would brush off my invitation as a _joke_ …” Jade sorted the last document and drew his brows together in that completely unbothered sad face he enjoyed making. “How cruel of you, Mister Directing Student. I’ve been hurt deeply by your thoughtless words…boo-hoo.”

“Look, Leech-senpai—”

“You will compensate me, will you not?” Jade leaned forwards, smile widening just enough to reveal a flash of sharp teeth. “I’ll meet you at the entrance to Main Street tomorrow after school, Mister Directing Student. Being late would be very…unfortunate.”

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
> **Definitions |**
> 
> _Moray eels and shrimp_ | some of you have probably looked this up already, but I’m not going to go into the details of why Floyd naming the player character “Koebi-chan” is out of the ordinary. Yet. Nor will I talk about the relationship between eels and shrimp, yet! First we have to get the octopus in the picture! Later on I will talk about the rather interesting relationships between these three marine animals, though this is discussed everywhere online (mostly in Japanese).
> 
>  _uissu (ういっす)_ | an informal remark that can mean a greeting (“hey”) or understanding (“okay”). Ruggie tends to use it. Usually only used by younger people and is rather masculine. Not very polite; gives off a frivolous atmosphere.
> 
>  _aniki (兄貴)_ | a formal way to call someone’s elder brother; Leona calls Farena this among other examples (Ace calls his big brother this too). Demonstrates respect.
> 
>  _waka-sama (若様)_ | literally ‘esteemed/honoured young one’; a very polite way to refer to the son of someone powerful. Sebek calls Malleus this. Can be translated as Young Master but it’s rather incomplete.
> 
>  _mu (む)_ | an expression of surprise, comprehension, or acknowledgement; basically a version of a grunt. Sebek often emits this. Masculine. Basically can mean anything!
> 
>  _owner (支配人, shihainin)_ | Azul’s position within the Mostro Lounge. Often, workers within the Lounge call him this. Can also mean ‘manager’ or ‘executive’ or ‘business representative’ in Japanese companies. Yuu doesn’t usually refer to Azul as this unless she wants to make a point.
> 
> —
> 
> Thank you to everyone for your patience with me! The new school semester is trying its hardest to completely drown me in unreasonable projects designed to fail each student, so my fighting spirit was ignited 😂 Very bad for free time though.
> 
> Meanwhile, we have hit EIGHT HUNDRED plus kudos and 19,900+ views, to my flabbergasted shock 😱! Thank you very much for your continued support of this story. I will do my best to continue to make it fun to read this year!
> 
> The next update will be on February 4th, which is also Cater’s birthday. Please look forward to it! And please stay safe and healthy in this crazy time!!
> 
> Now the author will shamelessly beg for a comment below, like usual. Pretty please 🥺 Your comments are fuel for my writing (hint, hint, nudge, nudge!) 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙇🏻♀️
> 
> —


	16. Curiosity Kills.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jade has a few words to say to Yuu, who has much on her plate as she practices witchcraft from her world while studying for the upcoming term exams at NRC.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
> Happy Birthday, Cater! ♦ Your true friends will definitely find a way to outlast these four years as a student, so there’s no need to hold back!
> 
> —
> 
> Wah ha ha ha!! Reading all the comments expressing your shock and confusion at Floyd’s sudden mood change was a lot of fun. If I managed to surprise you, that means I managed to do my job illustrating his capriciousness! 
> 
> —

—

“What do you think, Mister Directing Student?” Jade Leech called as he turned his head back to look at her. “The great outdoors, even within campus, is larger than it looks upon first glance, is it not?”

Yuu shaded her eyes against the cold afternoon sun that was beginning to burn the horizon magenta. Mid-November’s sunny weather was much harsher than October’s, though the largest stretch of woods behind Night Raven College’s castle rather mitigated the wind. It helped that instead of deciduous trees like the ones littering the courtyard and campus, this forest was full of evergreens that followed a steep slope upwards to what Jade called ‘the best star-watching spot on Land’. The thick foliage rather dispelled the flavour of autumn that had sunk into the campus grass.

“Mister Directing Student?”

“Conserving…energy,” she managed, hauling herself up another couple of steps.

“ _Oya oya_. It’s a good idea to build muscle before going on an excursion like this, or you may cramp up,” he tossed behind him cheerfully.

“Says the one…who dragged me…all the way here…” With a grunt, Yuu hauled herself another few steps through the unpaved underbrush. “Senpai, I have a feeling you just wanted to watch me suffer.”

“What nonsense,” Jade chuckled. “I am _perfectly_ grateful that someone was willing to participate in a test-period of my Mountain Lover’s Association. It’s not often that I am asked to share my hobbies.”

“Who said…they were…testing your club!?” Yuu spluttered. “And you were…the one who… _threatened_ me into this trip!”

“I’d never do something like that,” he finally paused when he drew too far ahead so she could pull herself over to join him, brows pulled together in his customary ‘troubled’ expression. “How could you think of me so slanderously? My feelings are hurt.”

Yuu, breathing hard, leaned her hands on her thighs and shot him an unimpressed stare in lieu of words. He _had_ stopped briefly for her, which Jade did not do often (despite his outwardly considerate demeanour), so she sucked in gulps of air without retorting and regretted getting up this morning.

Though she thought she’d managed to worm her way out of an assumed joke invitation—Jade usually talked at length about his mushroom preferences, but never did more than prompt her, jokingly, to join him—Yuu was proven horribly wrong when, after school the next day, she was accosted at the far entrance of Main Street by a 190-centimetre tall Leech smiling cheerfully in her direction as he hefted a large straw-woven basket overtop his athletic uniform.

It was probably a good thing Grim hadn’t been present; her partner had said something about hunting for black rocks over by the Magift pitch by Savanaclaw’s dorm building and bravely gone through the travel mirror alone. Yuu remembered the one he’d eaten back in September during their misadventure on Mount Dwarf and tried to tell him not to eat things off the ground, but Grim’s stomach was surprisingly strong and could digest everything, including the grass from Heartslabyul’s Rose Maze, so it was a futile effort.

As it was, she was alone now. The crush of students universally left a wide berth between themselves and Jade, several of them flinching and skirting him so obviously it was comical. Yuu had never been very interested in her surroundings—sure, she loved magic, but social situations had never involved her—so she had no idea if Jade was just scary because he was tall and his smile unreadable…or if Octavinelle’s reputation, if Jade Leech’s reputation was just _that bad_.

“Leech-senpai,” she greeted reluctantly as she approached him. It was probably foolish to run, since he was also her direct supervisor at work.

“Why, good _afternoon_ ,” Jade’s usual calm baritone bounced with his excitement. “I see you have not changed into your athletic uniform yet. Shall we stop by your Ramshackle Dorm first to change? That coat will smother you in minutes.”

“I, uh…have to go to the library,” she tried. “There’s an assignment today…”

“My, my. To be studious is certainly a praiseworthy quality for someone such as you.” Politely, Jade lifted his fist to his mouth as he chuckled. “However, today really is the last day of nice weather before frost begins to eat away at the forest. Now come along, Mister Directing Student. Or would you like to change here?”

“Who would change in the middle of a street in _November_!?” Yuu gaped at him.

“Floyd seems to have no problem…ah, that’s right. Humans are sensitive to the cold,” Jade blinked as if just remembering. “Well, then, time grows short. Let us go before the sun sets. _Fu fu._ The darkness hides much within the forest, so it is in your best interest to come along earlier rather than later.”

As much as the politer Leech spoke in riddles and threatened others with a straight face, in Yuu’s experience, he wasn’t one to lie incessantly for the sake of it. Jade’s reluctance to release personal information meant him hiding things in his words, but they were usually reasonably truthful for someone who was as good of a liar as Trey Clover.

Yuu, who had never visited the school forests except for the deciduous one behind the Botanical Gardens, was not about to take a risk on the consequences of not listening to him. After all, the Forbidden Forest on the outskirts of Hogwarts grounds had swallowed up more than one hapless student in the past.

Dragged along by a cheerful Jade, she darted into Ramshackle to change into her athletic uniform, re-applied the dwindling contents of the scentless bottle Leona had given her (it was water and sweat-soluble, according to him) and double-checked her wand against the inside of her newly unbandaged wrist before leaving a note for Grim in case he returned early.

Jade had a second, smaller woven basket ready for her by the time she returned, re-tying her hair more tightly against the nape of her neck. “There are several areas which could be labelled ‘forests’ within Night Raven College,” he explained as she pulled it on across her shoulders, tightening the straps. “However, it wouldn’t be much of a Mountain Lover’s Association outing if we didn’t choose one that was closest to a mountain.”

“I don’t have a lot of stamina,” she started.

“Do you think I wouldn’t have factored your strength into account?” Jade smiled at her.

Yuu didn’t like this smile. It was the same pasted-on expression he’d made when one of the former staff had complained about Azul being a slave driver one night on closing duty. Jade had ducked in from the bar—his silent appearance making everyone present jump—and mentioned casually that he possessed the unlucky sap’s throwaway SNS account with all its unsavoury contents backed up. Perhaps it was needless to say that the terrified staff quit within a week.

“You probably know a lot of information about me then?” she asked, struggling to keep up with his long strides.

“Some things are best left unknown,” Jade told her mysteriously, shortening his strides barely enough for her to catch up.

Unless he’d figured out about her magic or her gender, Yuu wasn’t really bothered if things like her height, weight, or grades were revealed. In the first place, she didn’t think her information was worth anything anyway.

Still…Jade Leech had a personality that made her want to keep a healthy distance between them. Physically and emotionally.

As they headed north around the west side of Ramshackle and past the outcropping of stone leading up to NRC’s castle, Jade explained to her the topology of the school. Like Trey and Jamil, this vice Dorm Leader was excellent at describing things in an easy-to-comprehend manner. Yuu learned that there was a small forest behind Sam’s shop, another one behind the Botanical Gardens, and a barely-there stretch of trees near the building housing the Hall of Mirrors. The place they were heading for, however, was where truly rare, mysterious, and interesting specimens of fungi (and alchemy ingredients) grew bountifully from the rich earth.

Jade was so emotive and passionate when talking about things he loved that even Yuu, who was not fond of hiking or prolonged periods of physical activity, had been infected with some of his enthusiasm by the time she reached the foot of a long, steep trail leading upwards into the raised area behind NRC’s castle.

“Wait,” Yuu’s smile fell from her face as she craned her neck up. “This is a cliff.”

“You’re looking at it from the wrong angle,” Jade tilted her head down. “There are the stables in the shadows…and you see, beside that? We can get to the top of the forest this way through the bushes.”

“But that forest is directly behind the school building way up there,” Yuu gaped. “We should have just left through the back door!”

“You need permission to use that entrance,” Jade shook his head. “It’s not much longer if we go this way. There are also some rare mushrooms on this trail that are _fascinating_.”

“That’s your _real_ reason, isn’t it?”

“Come on,” the wind whistled through his hair, displaying the sparkle in Jade’s mismatched eyes as he smiled disarmingly at her. “I’m sure it will be a delightful experience for the both of us. Now, time grows short—shall we go?”

—

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN | Curiosity Kills.**

—

“Delightful experience for the both of us, he said,” Yuu wheezed, collapsing on her bottom. The heat of exercise chased away any chill she might have felt, reddening her cheeks and dotting her neck and forehead with sweat.

“ _Oya_. Wasn’t it delightful?”

“You mean for _you_ , Leech-senpai. I’m sure you had a lot of fun watching me nearly tumble down the mountain four times.”

“But I’m sure it was nothing short of _thrilling_ on your part, as well…” Jade set his half-full basket before taking a seat beside her. “And I did properly run after to save you. I believe your gratitude is in order.”

The two of them had managed to break through the unpaved mountain trail just before sunset; now, they both sat in the last stretch of mountain grass facing the cliff that overlooked NRC’s vast campus. From her position, Yuu’s vision was exposed to the jagged spires of Ramshackle’s roof and behind it, the way the evening’s falling sun caught the Botanical Garden’s curved dome of glass and small sparkling bodies of water farther in the distance beside the alchemy building. In the autumn brown of the grass and trees, the school campus looked as if it were slowly burning into night.

If nothing else, Night Raven College was a truly beautiful place.

Jade had, indeed, come back several times to bodily catch Yuu who was tumbling nearly head over heels backwards when the going got steep. For someone who was much thinner than Jack, he hefted her with startling ease. Yuu stared out at the scenery and mumbled, “Thank you for saving me, Cause-of-it-all-senpai.”

“Don’t sulk,” Jade laughed. “Isn’t this the best vantage point in the entire campus? Not many people know about this area, you know. There’s an even better one around the perimeter to the side, but winds blow strong enough to take your tiny body straight off the edge.”

“I’m not tiny,” she protested.

Jade lifted both brows when she turned to look at him. “Yuu-san, I can carry you with one arm,” he said patiently.

“Merfolk are stupidly strong or something,” Yuu muttered, having been hauled over his shoulder twice that afternoon, “my co-workers told me. So that’s cheating.”

“The average height of a sixteen-year-old male is around a hundred and seventy centimetres,” he rattled off. “You, Mister Directing Student, are at the very most a hundred and fifty-seven centimetres.”

That’s because I’m not male, she wanted to say. “Everyone’s small compared to you. And how did you figure out my height?”

“Who do you think fixed your Mostro Lounge uniform length after the first time you wore it?” he shot back a non-answer. “Please pass me your basket. I would like to see our gatherings so far.”

“I thought those were magically fitted.” Obligingly, Yuu shed the heavy straw-woven basket and handed it over to him. The outcropping of trees protected them well from the wind even at this height; Jade eagerly dumped out its contents on the grass and began to gently sort through the pile with his gloves.

Yuu shed her own gloves now that she wasn’t tasked with picking mushrooms and leaned back to watch. “I think that one beside your right hand was the coolest one I found.”

“The Bear’s Head Tooth,” Jade nodded absently, separating the white bunch of drooping tendrils from the pile. “Not only is it edible whether young or mature, these tooth-like appendages blooming from the spines also grow with the fungus. Doesn’t it look like a mop? You managed to preserve the shape quite well.”

“I used to be in the fine arts club,” Yuu explained. “I don’t have experience in mushroom-picking, but I tried to make sure I didn’t destroy anything I found.” She refrained from mentioning it looked less like a bear’s head and more like a lion’s mane.

“And this sulphur-shelf collection is extremely nutritious and only found on hardwoods!” Jade pointed out a series of clusters of orange mushrooms she’d found stuck against a tree. “Why, Mister Directing Student. You must have an eye for detail. I should cook these after I return tonight.”

Yuu put her hands together in a silent prayer for Floyd. She wasn’t nice enough to stop Jade, but it didn’t look like he could have been stopped at this point, anyway.

The forest they had explored was indeed full of mushrooms, wildlife, and strange-looking plants that Yuu tried her best not to touch. Her experiences in Hogwarts’ Herbology courses had drilled a healthy respect of magical plants into her head. They could, at times, be more dangerous than Magical Creatures, and unlike the latter they could rarely be tamed. And now that she was not within the Botanical Gardens, neither Leona nor Ruggie was around to yank her away from something dangerous.

Despite the danger of falling back down the steep incline, new knowledge was new knowledge. Even with her reluctance and exhaustion, Yuu had found herself calling back a distantly hunting Jade to breathlessly ask him what the hell that glowing thing was, or why this mushroom wasn’t coming off, or if a vividly coloured plant was poisonous.

As a result of diligent exploration, their bounty was considerable. Though limited by her smaller basket and capacity to carry, Yuu had apparently landed on several good specimens. “Beginner’s luck,” Jade had told her with jealous appreciation in his voice. He himself had already magically stabilized and packed away his considerably larger basket; on top was a huge purplish cap the size of her head that was apparently poisonous if prepared wrong.

For the first time, she actually felt sorry for his capricious brother.

By the time Jade had finished sorting and magically packing her basket, the sun was a low smear of orange-magenta in the sky and a series of magic-stone powered lights were glowing warmly below. Yuu squinted down, wondering if she could catch Tsuno-tarou wandering around from up here, but people were as small as ants from this vantage point.

“Tonight’s much clearer than I expected,” Jade commented. “Look up, Mister Directing Student, instead of staring below you. I did say this spot was excellent for star-watching, did I not?”

“Leech-senpai, you sure seem to like Land things for someone who grew up in the sea,” Yuu commented, following his gaze into the deepening sky. A few wispy clouds floated past, but not yet could she see any pinpricks of light telling of distant stars.

“It’s a little embarrassing, how excited I become,” he sounded more amused than embarrassed, “but there is so much to discover on Land. You humans don’t know how good you have it.”

“You might be right,” Yuu pulled her legs up to her chest and searched for the first glimmer. “Though I think living in an ocean is pretty cool too.”

“In this case, I agree with Floyd…it’s not as interesting as it seems down there,” Jade commented with an exaggerated sigh. “Just dark. And a little dangerous.”

“Oh yeah,” she remembered, “he did mention not knowing how to deal with others without incorporating violence into the equation. I thought it was just him…and maybe you, though.”

“Who knows?” when she glanced over, Jade was focused on the sky, no emotion on his face except for the sparkling in his eye. “…Floyd is quite unique. No one can read him, not even me, so it’s best not to consider him a typical example of a Merman.”

Yuu scrunched up her face in reaction.

Jade looked over and laughed. “I’ve never seen someone react to him the way you do.”

“React to him?” Yuu repeated incredulously. “He’s so weird. _Everyone_ thinks so.”

“They’re rather too terrified of the consequences to approach him…I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

It was true. Floyd was commonly known as the ‘scary Leech’ since Jade was usually polite and helpful during work hours.

“Surprisingly, he’s pretty harmless right now,” Yuu commented.

“You say that after getting into several fights with him where he strangled you almost to death?” Jade raised a brow. “Do you enjoy pain, Mister Directing Student?”

“I don’t know…” Yuu scrunched up her face again. She tended to make this expression a lot when Floyd was involved. “There’s something clean about him, though. Can’t really describe it.”

“Are you sure it’s not just your foolishness allowing him near you after he’s expressed his dislike of you so clearly?”

“But I think that’s over…or something,” Yuu shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know. I don’t _like_ him very much, but…”

“But…”

“When he’s not in attack mode or whatever, he’s kind of interesting to talk to,” she finished lamely.

“Interesting to talk to.”

“My biggest motivation is the seeking of knowledge and learning new things,” Yuu explained. “A fascinating and dangerous predator is still fascinating.”

“I see. So in effect, you have no sense of self-preservation.”

“Strangler-senpai’s already lectured me about that thirty times already,” she rolled her eyes. “And…other people. I’m, uh, working on it?”

Jade was the one to make the funny expression this time. “…You’re quite strange yourself, but I will admit that it was beyond my expectations for Floyd to become so attached to you.”

“ _Attached_ to me!?” she spluttered. “He thinks I’m a toy or something! Who knows when he’s going to go back to hating me?”

“Once again, it’s a cultural difference.” Jade’s gaze grew distant. “And a…Floyd difference. His EQ has space to grow…though I have said, before, that my brother has the makings of a genius.”

“I remember,” Yuu nodded. “…You’re probably right. I’m actually wondering if he has an eidetic memory right now.”

“Back when I first told you, you didn’t understand at all,” Jade mused. “Or agree. Change of heart?”

“I didn’t _know_ him at all,” she argued.

“And now you do,” he prompted, raising a brow disbelievingly.

“Well, it’s not like he’s secretive,” _unlike you_ , she finished wordlessly, giving him a pointed look. “Strangler-senpai’s pretty clingy and talkative compared to his one remaining sibling.”

“One remaining…” Jade repeated slowly, turning his entire body in her direction. “…I always tell him not to be so loose with his tongue.”

“Was I not supposed to know that?” Yuu blinked. “I don’t understand how it is at sea or what you went through when you’re young, but Strangler-senpai mentioned something about knowing violence the best as a form of communication. Is it something to hide?”

“And, after hearing the story about our childhood, have you finally come to your senses?”

“What are you even talking about. Just because you have some sordid past doesn’t mean I’m going to begin to treat you differently,” Yuu rolled her eyes. “It’s not up to me to judge you and, frankly, would be insulting. Plus there was no ‘story’. He just mentioned something offhand, that he was glad that the one who survived with him was you.”

“ _Fu fu_. Oh, Floyd,” Jade said fondly, “I made the right decision when I chose him as my partner back then.”

Yuu blinked several times. It was getting hard to see Jade’s expression as night fell around them—and cold, too—so she concentrated hard to cast a Heating Charm on her garments, a handy little trick she’d modified from the Hot Air Charm and Water-heating Charm back in her third year. It wasn’t good for the material of her uniform, but Yuu couldn’t care less about her uniform right now.

Jade’s statement had caught her attention—she didn’t need to be distracted with the cold. Yuu felt the chill recede from her skin and carefully asked, “Chose?”

“Isn’t it _limiting_ to be bound by relationships simply because of genetic inheritance?” Jade obliged her. Briefly, his left eye glowed gold in the dusk. “Of everyone I knew, it was Floyd who chose me, as I chose him to keep. As we both chose Azul. In our case, ‘blood ties’ are unnecessary.”

The matter-of-fact manner in which he spoke sent pushed something into place in her chest. Family, friends, superiors. Bullies. Yuu had always just accepted her lot for what it was. Floated along without fighting back. Allowed herself to be stepped on. She hadn’t even _considered_ that it was ‘one’s choice’ to keep or throw out unwanted relationships.

How different Jade was!

Yuu was silent for a long time before she admitted, “…I’ve never thought about it like that before.”

“Most humans…no, most existing creatures don’t,” Jade turned back up to the sky. “I can’t expect much from a small crustacean like you, can I, Mister Directing Student?”

“Enough with that nickname already,” Yuu groaned, following his gaze. “…I always thought you were stuck with the people around you.”

“That may be true for the vast majority of people,” Jade yielded, “as you see many who never seek to travel beyond their country’s borders, marry outside of their species, take risks. And maybe most are weak enough… _dull_ enough to satisfy themselves with such an existence.”

Suddenly, Yuu remembered Floyd’s many comments about his brother. That Jade ignored things that weren’t interesting; that his brother was as fun-loving (as messed up) as him; that the thing his brother hated the most on this planet was (in less concrete terms) determinism or the theory of _harmonie préétablie_.

Jade reviled when things went according to some predictable plot-line, she realized. To put it insultingly, he was a harbinger of chaos; however, Yuu thought that his ‘personal agency’ was the highest she’d ever seen. If he wanted something to happen, Jade Leech would just make it happen. Chaotic or not.

Something Yuu was not strong enough to do. It was kind of admirable.

And now it made more sense why he was so fascinated with the Land so far removed from his home.

“…I think you’re pretty smart yourself,” Yuu said slowly as she ruminated. “Most people don’t even know they live at the bottom of a well. Even I tend to be trapped in the ‘things are going to happen the way they’re going to happen’ thing.”

“Why, for Mister Directing Student to follow my line of thought places you far above the rabble,” Jade’s voice deepened in amusement from beside her. “No wonder Floyd named you ‘ko-ebi’…no wonder he identified you as a ‘shrimp’ at first glance. He has a natural born judge of character that I, unfortunately, do not.”

“Sorry?” The apparent non sequitur threw her off. “What does that mean? Strangler-senpai called me shrimp because he thinks I scuttle like one. Right?”

“There’s that…and your, ah, height.”

“Senpai,” Yuu shot him a flat look.

“ _Fu fu fu._ You’ll have to figure out this one by yourself, Mister Directing Student. Though allow me to say that my brother never changes the names with which he refers to others.”

“Great. So I’m a tiny shrimp forever,” Yuu grumbled, flinging her arms into the sky.

“You should be glad,” Jade remarked with his usual playful good humour, “that he did not call you a barnacle.”

_Your face is a barnacle_ , Yuu wanted to retort. But her close examination of the sky during their conversation had paid off. “—I think I see the first star. Up to my left.”

“Good eye,” Jade hummed appreciatively.

Yuu was used to the quiet, and she thought that perhaps Jade preferred areas with less noise than the lively Mostro Lounge. Often, a natural silence would settle between the two of them as they performed tasks together in the kitchen, and it was no different now.

How long had it been since she watched the stars come out? Yuu leaned back and surveyed the blackening sky. She had never been very good, nor interested, in Astronomy back at Hogwarts, but that might have had something to do with being hung from the Tower two years ago.

Viewing the stars like this was nice. Without any worksheets to fill out or predictions of movements—which Yuu was horrible at—she could appreciate the beauty of the skyscape. No wonder _Starry Night_ had been such a sensation in the muggle world; the fine arts club member in her nodded furiously and committed the sight to memory.

Unlike Floyd, who had swung her around Mostro Lounge’s roof down below the ocean, Jade gazed up at the sky with real wonder in his face. When Yuu glanced over after a while, she caught the reflections of stars in his heterochromatic eyes as he scrutinized the sky above with intense concentration. No words were needed to prove how this person loved the mountains and sky with his whole heart the way Yuu longed and thirsted for magic.

For a perfect liar, he was relatable. Perhaps a little too relatable. Why was it that the more Yuu learned about anyone in this school, the less excuses she could find to dislike them?

The Heating Charm wore off slowly. Some time later, Yuu shivered against a rare gust of wind that had threaded the trees and sneezed twice in quick succession. The noise broke Jade’s concentration; he looked back over with a slow blink, as if finally realizing she still existed.

“Time flies,” he murmured absently, staring mostly through her. “Well, if we don’t head back now, your weak human body may catch a cold. Ah, but before we leave.”

Yuu gave him a questioning glance as she warmed her hands with her breath.

“I had almost forgotten why I brought you here in the first place,” Jade smiled angelically. “You see, Mister Directing Student. It seems that without stopping at my brother, you’ve gone and endeared yourself to Azul as well.”

“Okay, that’s going too far,” Yuu laughed, “Ashengrotto-senpai literally insults me like it’s his job.”

“When he is usually inordinately polite and courteous to even the most foolish student?”

“Isn’t that a sign he _dislikes_ me?”

“People in Night Raven College…people who feign politeness like that are the ‘nicest’ to their enemies,” Jade informed her. “And no one knows Azul better than Floyd or me. He is surprisingly emotionally volatile, so it’s easy to tell.”

By now Yuu was starting to be able to catch the nuances of his expressions. Jade was, for some reason, unhappy. Though he always tried to prevent emotion and unnecessary information from showing, he was a person (Merman) who, unlike Trey, wasn’t as shy about wearing enmity in his mismatched eyes. Trey would never tell you if he hated you—Jade wouldn’t hesitate in making it clear.

“The reason we came here today,” Yuu said carefully, tensing as the pressure of his gaze upon her began to prickle, “…wasn’t to pick mushrooms?”

“A good guess,” Jade’s mouth curved upwards. “It is, after all, not very interesting when a new arrival burrows into my den like you have done.”

“What, you think I’m suspicious?” she squinted.

“Suspicious, no. A roadblock? Yes. Never have I ever seen both Azul and Floyd so interested in a _human_ …a magicless, otherworldly human, at that,” he added offhandedly. “And unlike the other students here, you don’t have enough information on record for me to exploit. So I have no way to guarantee you will not pose a problem in the future.”

“You just said exploit, didn’t you. Are you even trying to hide it anymore?”

He ignored her. “Not that you could even do anything against any of us—even the Greats probably know how Azul doesn’t need any assistance to turn the world upside down—but it is in your best interest, Mister Directing Student, to stop with any games you might be playing before they sink you into the bottom of the ocean.”

_One day you’ll die all alone at the bottom of the sea._ Floyd had threatened her the same way. Once again, despite the different mannerisms, hobbies, and attitudes of the Leech siblings, she was struck by their similarities. Both were violent, dangerous, devoid of any moral hesitation or scruples she was used to seeing in even NRC’s unruly crowd.

Night Raven College was truly… _remarkable_.

“I need to work at Mostro Lounge for funds,” Yuu told him calmly. “Are you willing to pay me money to stay away from your brother and friend?”

“Do not insult us by calling my relationship with Azul ‘friendship’,” Jade’s eyes cooled. “And why do I have to do anything for a stranger such as you? No matter how interesting you are, no matter how many secrets you carry, a single inclination of you bringing disadvantage to any of us will mean danger for _you_. Understand?”

“Why aren’t you warning _them_ to stay away from me instead?” Yuu was unwilling to back down. She was not brave, but her only source of income was Mostro Lounge. Her presence in the dorm had only just started to hover above rock bottom.

As if she had come all this way to give up now.

“We aren’t friends,” Jade repeated. “We are partners. Floyd can take care of himself better than I can, though unfortunately he has gotten a little too attached to you. I wouldn’t need to ‘warn’ him of anything. And I am not in a position where I can argue with Azul. It’s easier for all of us if I stop you from your side.”

“So instead, now you suddenly confront me with this…heart-to-heart,” Yuu furrowed her brow at him tensely. “You could have put in a request to fire me, or done any number of things to distance me from the Lounge far before now.”

“You were merely an interesting annoyance until now.” Jade’s smile widened unpleasantly. “However, we Mermen are quite territorial. None of us are going to be pleased if someone intrudes for too long into our habitat without consequence.”

Octavinelle’s trio had indeed created their perfect triangle. Floyd himself utterly disregarded people he didn’t care about but listened to Azul without hesitation and put up with Jade’s mushroom addiction (among other things). Azul did not trust anyone with anything except for the Leech brothers, dismissing them so easily when they would not be controlled by anyone else. And here was Jade, always observing and planning, ready to do anything for either of his ‘partners’.

Jade, Yuu realized, never thought about himself individually. He factored his brother and boss into every decision he made without fail.

How dangerous. This person was not to be messed with lightly.

Unfortunately, Yuu didn’t have much of a choice.

“Mister Directing Student?” Jade prompted, voice lowering, when she didn’t respond right away.

“Leech-senpai,” Yuu met both of his eyes squarely, heart thudding a rapid tattoo in her chest. “I am unable to honour your request.”

The eyes slitted. “…I see.”

“And don’t you think it’s a bit insulting of you to make decisions for Strangler-senpai and Ashengrotto-senpai?” she continued. “Surely they can—”

The sky turned upside down.

“You still have much to learn about Mermen…about relationships,” Jade said leisurely as he hauled her across the grass with a long arm. “Do you not understand what I am trying to get across? Someone like a student with no magic, no background, no assurance of staying in this world for another second—an uncertain, useless existence like you is _unnecessary_.”

“Leech-senpai?!” Yuu yelped as they approached the cliff. “What—”

“Just helping you out a little with your decision making,” Jade said cheerfully, lifting her below the armpits like a child from behind. “I do think you should reconsider.”

Yuu’s stomach plummeted as her shoes left the ground.

She knew what was coming next.

The edge of the cliff facing NRC was overgrown with brittle grass that crunched beneath Jade’s shoes as he moved further forward. Yuu’s own looked comically small next to his as they dangled helplessly in the air.

Jade kept moving.

The cliff ended.

“Well, then,” his baritone was ever-calm behind her as a few rocks fell from the edge of the cliff where Yuu was hanging. “I wonder what would happen if I let go.”

She thought shakily, _I guess I didn’t overcome my fear of heights after all._

Then, _don’t look down._

_This is as high as the Astronomy Tower._

Her third year flashed past Yuu’s thoughts briefly. It was times like these that a good memory was hatefully clear. Just like then, her feet dangled…

“It’s not to say that you are not an enjoyable existence to me…and Floyd,” Jade was saying, his voice distant with the rushing of blood in her ears. “But we don’t need anyone else. And above everything, Mister Directing Student, you are not a Merman.”

Yuu sucked in gulps of air, unable to wrench her gaze away from the sheer drop below. The tiny dots of light were too far away and everything was black around her. Night was falling. No one was going to help her.

“It is hard to impress just how different we species are from each other. In strength, in survivability, …There was a famous movie released close to thirty years ago that told of how impossible it was for humans to live with Merfolk. We are too different. Worlds apart, if you may.”

If she fell.

If Jade dropped her.

“So, I’ll ask again,” he said pleasantly. “Don’t you think you should stop loitering around Floyd and Azul any longer?”

Yuu tried to open her mouth. Air whistled audibly through her throat in the place of words.

“…Mister Directing Student?” Jade murmured.

With her limited mental faculties operating at full capacity, Yuu managed to robotically close the unsteady tips of her icy fingers over Jade’s hands still curled around her ribs. “…Coward.”

“Excuse me?”

“…You e-even grew legs…and came…to the sky…” Yuu gasped out, fingers trembling. “And you’re _still_ afraid…of anything b-bursting your perfect bubble…?”

“…Are you …Afraid of heights, Mister Directing Student?” Jade said slowly.

“So _what_. G-go ahead…and drop me…kill me then,” she challenged, teeth chattering. “But whether I die from the sky or from the sea…it’s not going to change anything. Stupid…murderous…twins. Learn…something…other than violence.”

She was trembling, but after a moment of silence, Yuu discovered that the movement was not from her but from Jade who was shaking behind her.

“Are…you… _laughing_? Again?” She managed, still gasping for air. “You…psycho…bastard.”

“What a _fine_ thing to say about me,” Jade’s voice was choked with good humour. “…Truly…you never fail to betray my expectations, Mister Directing Student.”

The surreal situation finally managed to penetrate the fog of fear clouding Yuu’s mind. She had gone through too many close calls recently to be knocked senseless because of something like this. “…I could say the same about you.”

“I must admit, I was not aware you had acrophobia. Though even with it you still refuse to agree with me? I have your insignificant life in my hands. Literally.”

“I’ve gotten…a lot of experience dealing with my fears recently,” Yuu said weakly. “And by the way, I don’t feel the kind of urge from you to actually murder me, so can you please take me back to a safe place before I hyperventilate?”

“Was I so obvious?” Jade was still chuckling.

Yuu decided not to tell him that once ten or twenty Magical Creatures came hunting after you with true killing intent, one rather got acclimated to that knife-like feeling. Jade himself was just having fun torturing people.

Though she was only betting at best. Jade felt like the kind of person who could kill someone without any visible urges.

Once on solid ground, Yuu’s feet wobbled and gave out. She pressed close to the fresher grass close to their baskets of mushrooms (and other strange plants Jade had collected) and inhaled the scent of cold dirt with relief.

“It’s as if you’ve just grown legs and come up to land,” Jade remarked bemusedly from beside her.

“I’ve got a bit of a trauma,” Yuu mumbled into the ground. “Give me a second.”

Of course, to people he didn’t care about, Jade Leech was far from considerate. A moment later she was leaving the ground as he fished her upright and began to dust the grass and debris from her clothing. Yuu held on to his other arm as she got her breathing back under control.

“Afraid of heights…but not of death,” Jade murmured to himself. “…I see.”

“Do you always threaten to kill people who don’t agree with you?” she said once she could stand unsupported again.

“Why would I waste my time on the worthless?” Jade blinked. By now she could barely see the contours of his well-proportioned features; even with the starlight, the absence of man-made light sources this far up hid everything but those mismatched olive-and-golden eyes. “And it’s obvious how boring their reactions will be. It’s much easier to leave Floyd to deal with them.”

“I think it says something about you that the only reason you don’t is because it wouldn’t entertain you,” Yuu muttered, squinting up at him. “Well? Was I a good show?”

He laughed again. “Mister Directing Student, you are _always_ a good show. I’ve never had someone call me a coward and a bastard even with the full knowledge that their life was dependent on me.”

“I personally find it ridiculous that you’re threatening me for something I frankly can’t understand,” Yuu rolled her eyes. “It’s not like I’m friends with Ashengrotto-senpai, let alone Strangler-senpai.”

“You humans are so fixated on the concept of friendship. Bonds come in so many forms that are stronger.”

“I like friendship the best,” Yuu shrugged.

“Because you haven’t experienced any other forms of affection?” Jade lifted a brow.

He wasn’t wrong. “ _You’ve_ just never had a friend before.”

“Well, well. To mouth off to me must mean you’re prepared for the consequences.”

“Maybe if you stopped threatening or insulting others every time you opened your mouth, you’d get one or two friends, Leech-senpai,” Yuu retorted, “unless you dropped all of them from cliffs.”

“Don’t make me regret sparing you,” Jade said silkily. “Even if you’ve passed the test, I’m not above removing any annoyances.”

“Passed what test?”

“Let’s go back,” Jade ignored her cheerfully, pulling both baskets onto his back easily and then hauling Yuu up on one arm. “It’s dark, so I’ll be throwing you at any bears or creatures that come out to play.”

“Put me down, you psycho!” Yuu yelped as the ground receded. It was one thing being carried by Kalim or Ruggie. Jade was so tall that she couldn’t see the ground.

“What an insult. Should I just leave you behind?”

“I can walk by myself!”

“And roll down the entire mountain for real this time? In the dark?”

“It’s still better than you carrying me,” Yuu muttered.

Jade lifted his free fist to his mouth in a condescending chuckle. “Don’t worry, Mister Directing Student. Your pitiful weight was already apparent from your slight figure.”

“And the insults start again. Senpai, you really are good at playing nice when people don’t know you.”

“We’re quite past that already, are we not?”

“Can we go back to not knowing each other?”

“I’m afraid it’s far too late for that,” Jade sounded amused as he expertly made his way into the forest. “Try being a little more boring next time.”

—

Even with the _real_ scarier Leech nearly dropping her from the top of a mountain cliff, Yuu slept like a rock that evening. This could not have been possible without Grim’s warmth beside her, but Crowley had called her shameless for a reason. If Yuu could sleep well on the day she came to this world, she could sleep well the day after Jade Leech nearly killed her.

Yuu had decided she was done paying attention about Leeches for the rest of her life. They were too much trouble to waste brainpower on. Exams were in less than a month, it was cold, and she was regretting her mountain excursion fiercely by the time school ended the next day.

“My muscles are _murdering_ me,” she groaned, leaning against the cool stone wall of NRC’s interior hallway. Students passed back and forth in front of her, chatting, as she and Grim waited. “Never climbing a mountain again.”

“You had muscles?” Grim muttered. “That’s not important. Why’d you let those jerks back you up against the wall just now? They were insulting you for no reason!”

“Ignore them,” Yuu waved it off. “People from Scarabia are just really angry all the time.”

“No they’re not. They’re usually pretty chill,” Ace corrected as he ducked out of the washroom beside where she and Grim were waiting. “You change so fast, Yuu. Didn’t even see you go in.”

_That’s because I change in a stall as soon as the bell rings so I don’t get outed as a girl._ “Maybe you guys are just slow?”

“Oh, shut up. Deuce is still in there and that guy’s on the track team. They’re supposed to be faster than me.” Ace leaned against the wall beside her, side-eyeing Grim. “What’s this about Yuu getting picked on again? People just can’t leave you alone, can they?”

“Like…ten people wearing Scarabia armbands just started insulting my henchman for not being able to use magic and not getting perfect scores in class,” Grim spat bad-temperedly. “When _they_ probably can’t do half as well in Magical History. Yuu was just missing for a few weeks and they’re taking advantage to pick on him not knowing stuff.”

“It was four people and they’re probably insecure,” Yuu rolled her eyes. “You and Deuce are so up in arms about unfriendly students. I could literally _not_ care less about them, so just ignore it. They’re not worth your time to entertain.”

“I mean, now that we know how Yuu here deals with people who piss him off, I’m not so worried,” Ace checked her playfully in the shoulder, twirling his finger as if waving a wand. “Deuce gets a little overprotective, but it’s not like they can actually _do_ anything to Yuu without Crowley or Crewel around. Plus, it’s less troublesome if other students hate him. Better than the opposite, right?”

“The opposite?” Yuu and Grim synchronised.

Ace leaned in with his wicked smirk. “If you keep taming random people, _I’m_ the one who’s gonna get angry.”

His eyes were serious.

“Right,” Grim realised, puffing up. “He’s got a point! Let ‘em hate Yuu. At least they don’t _like_ him!”

“Sometimes I wonder why I’m friends with you lot.”

“’Cause you tamed us too,” Ace shrugged, collapsing against the wall beside her. “For now, at least.”

“I told you, I’m not _taming_ anyone,” Yuu rolled her eyes. “If you’re talking about Ruggie-senpai or Leona-senpai, we’re friends, and it’s not like I’m strong enough to be able to do anything to them.”

“People like them don’t have ‘friends’ in the first place,” Ace disagreed. “Plus, I found you first.”

“ _I_ found him first,” Grim disagreed loudly.

“Either way, we don’t need more people getting tamed…okay, _making friends_ with Yuu here. Even our Dorm Head was complaining about you being too popular with the Savanaclaw students the other day.”

“Rosehearts-senpai was in _such_ a bad mood when you went to visit Kingscholar-senpai last time,” Deuce shuddered as he joined them from the mouth of the men’s washroom. They began to make their way down to the main entrance, a little behind the rest of the students finishing classes. “I mean, he’s stopped collaring people for no reason, but our Dorm Head’s still scary as hel—…extremely not to be messed with when angry.”

“It’s all Trey-senpai’s fault,” Ace complained. “He usually sort-of neutralizes that Riddle-senpai, but this time he wasn’t even _trying_!”

“Well, Trey-senpai really likes Yuu too,” Deuce mused. “Sure you’re not going to transfer?”

“It’s getting pretty troublesome to keep saying no,” Grim reached out with both hands so she could heft him up into her arms. “Plus you get free food.”

“Stop tempting me,” she groaned under his weight. Her entire body was still protesting the sustained periods of physical exercise she’d undergone yesterday. “I already told Ruggie-senpai I wouldn’t.”

“I knew we shoulda crushed that hyena when we had the chance,” Ace muttered.

“Crushed!?”

“Like you could have,” Ruggie’s familiar tenor answered him. The three of them jumped. Yuu spun; Ruggie was strolling down the hallway with both hands laced behind his hair, giving Ace an unfriendly look. “Remember how things went last time when you tried to catch me?”

“Geh,” Ace emitted, “Speak of the devil.”

“Ruggie-senpai,” Yuu greeted, perking up. “What are you doing in the first-year’s classroom hallway?”

“Leona-san told me to come get you,” Ruggie grinned back at her. “You look awful, Yuu-kun. Bad night’s sleep?”

“Not that it’s your business, but my henchman got roped into climbing a mountain with his co-worker last night,” Grim sniffed. “He’s got no muscles.”

“Hey, I hold _you_ all the time and you weigh as much as a small child,” Yuu protested.

“Climbing a mountain…” Ruggie’s smile vanished briefly as he furrowed a brow in thought.

“Sorry, senpai,” Ace said cheerfully, slinging a heavy arm over her shoulders. “Yuu here is doing game night with us today. I don’t know what Leona-senpai needs him for, but _we’ve_ got dibs.”

“Ace,” Deuce hissed. He cleared his throat. “…Sorry, Bucchi-senpai, but please tell Kingscholar-senpai to—”

“ _Laugh with Me_!”

“Whoa!” Yuu’s arms lifted to form curled claws by her ears. Grim, losing his comfortable position gathered in her embrace, fell on the ground with a splat. “Senpai?!”

“ _Funaa!_ ”

“You dumb first years seem to be confused,” Ruggie’s lip lifted to show one sharp canine in an unfriendly sneer as he flexed his fingers by his ears in a comically threatening pose. He took two steps forward, walking Yuu further away from them. “When did I _ask_? You should know by now that Savanaclaw doesn’t need permission for anything.”

“You—!” Ace spluttered, diving forwards to catch a hold of her as she left his grip. “Give him back!”

“Finders keepers,” he sang.

“I’m a _person_ ,” Yuu insisted as Ruggie walked her further forwards before dismissing the spell and manhandling her over his shoulder in one clean motion. It was something no one from Heartslabyul would ever be uncouth enough to try.

“Yuu!” Ace scolded her. “Fight back a little harder!”

“My muscles are killing me! I can’t really move without seizing up,” she protested from her vantage point of the back of Ruggie’s too-large uniform shirt. “Sorry, comrades…looks like I’m done for.”

“Not if I can help it! _Come out, great cauldron_!”

Ruggie leapt out of the way as the huge metal pot burst out of thin air, crashing down on the spot he’d been standing with an attention-drawing _clang_. “Oi, oi, you’re gonna crush Yuu-kun too!”

“Whoops,” Deuce muttered, but his voice was catching that guttural urge again. “Oh well. _Come out! Great cauldron!_ ”

“Your friends are insane!” Ruggie started to sprint down the hallway when the second one crashed loudly on top of the first one.

“You started this,” Yuu told him mercilessly, “and please take it easy with the jostling, my muscles really ache.”

Ruggie ducked low; a second later, Grim’s blue fireball blew past his side and scorched the cobblestone hallway. “Is there a single day when you don’t get into some incident?”

“What does Leona-senpai even need me for?” Yuu ignored him, wincing with his bouncing. Ruggie’s sprinting speed outpaced even most Therianthropes she’d seen.

“Your guess is as good as mine. Probably the whole magic research thing,” kicking lightly off the ground, Ruggie braced himself against the wall and landed on one of the cut-open stone arches opening to the outside of the school.

Yuu twisted her head around in horror. Behind them, Ace, Deuce and Grim were all running in her direction, wearing various expressions of panic. “Senpai? You’re not going to jump, are you?”

“Don’t worry, I’m good at jumping. I told you,” Ruggie patted her back once. “Plus, if we don’t dip right now, Trein is gonna show up and murder us all. I can hear him on the upper floors coming this way with Lucius.”

“Do you know _how high up_ we are!?” Yuu yelped in panic. “Wait! I’m not ready! I’m not—”

—

“So I might have overdone it a little,” Ruggie said sheepishly, flopping onto Leona’s chair in his room.

Leona eyed Yuu’s curled up form clinging desperately to the hyena’s front, unimpressed. “She _told_ you she was afraid of heights.”

“I thought she’d gotten over it! We even played Magift with her as the disc!” he protested, patting her head roughly with a big hand. “…I don’t think it was this bad before.”

“Oi, herbivore.”

“What,” Yuu’s voice was muffled.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Leona-san, show some delicacy,” Ruggie mumbled.

“Says the one who flung me over his shoulder like a sack of flour and _freaking parkoured all the way down the building_ across the school,” she retorted shakily. After yesterday’s mountain excursion, perhaps her tolerance for danger had been shaved down considerably. “Just…Give me a second.”

“It wasn’t even that far. You’re such a baby,” Yuu could feel the hyena roll his eyes. But Ruggie was both good at taking care of people and willing to do so, and he pushed her head against his shoulder with familiar movements, starting a comforting rhythm of pats on the back.

“Anything happen?” Leona asked Ruggie while she waited for her thudding heart to calm down. Hopefully her ventricular walls didn’t get padded with all of this extra work the organ was doing.

“Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum chased after us when I picked up this kid,” Ruggie reported casually, crossing his legs on the chair to better support her. “Plus the furball. They’re stupid enough to start a fight right in the middle of the hallway.”

“And of course you used them as bait for the teachers so you could leave.” Leona’s voice slowed with his amused grin.

“ _Shi shi shi_. You know me.”

If she had been up to it, Yuu would have pointed out how awesome their easy partnership was, but as it was, she just waited for her heartbeat to match Ruggie’s slow thump-thump in his neck and listened to the two of them talk.

“Oh, though I heard something about Yuu-kun getting picked on by Scarabia kids or somethin’,” Ruggie mentioned offhandedly, never pausing his movements.

“… _Hou_?”

She wriggled around in Ruggie’s grip so Leona was visible, stretched out across his messy covers and pillows like a lazy cat. Yuu put her head under Ruggie’s chin. “Stop exaggerating. Leona-senpai, they’re harmless.”

“You can’t be trusted,” he flicked his tail dismissively at her. “So this has been going on for a while. Am I wrong?”

“Huh!? How did you…”

“Tch. That Kalim doesn’t notice things happening right under his nose…well, I can guess why.” Leona scratched his head, thinking. “…Herbivore. You’ll probably have to put up with the idiots for a while.”

“You know Kalim-senpai?” Yuu blinked.

“We’ve met,” Leona grunted. “Ruggie said people have seen the two of you sitting together at lunch sometimes.”

“What the _heck_ is with your information network?” Yuu turned upwards so his chin knocked into her forehead.

“It pays off to have connections, human or otherwise,” Ruggie grinned down at her. “But that can be said about you too. The eldest heir of the al-Asim family? Not bad.”

“I barely know him. And Kalim-senpai’s friends with everyone.”

“You took his place when I tried to tip him off the staircase, which is good enough,” Ruggie shrugged, tapping her ankle ruefully. “Though it was probably for the best he didn’t take the fall. I got a little cocky; shouldn’t have aimed for a bigwig of his calibre.”

“Bigwig of what? Anyway, I bet if you just asked him he’d be willing to listen, at least,” Yuu pointed out, “no need to push him off stairs or anything.”

“Like hell I’d do that. Dealing with that two-faced Jamil-kun is too much trouble and they’re always together.” Ruggie sighed. “Though…guess I’m not too surprised about Scarabia’s treatment of you either. They’ve been kinda…lax…ever since Kalim-kun showed up sometime last year.”

“Lax?” Yuu repeated curiously.

“Give it ‘til after Winter Break,” Leona advised. “They’ll probably lose most of their fire by then. Scarabia isn’t doing so hot in the athletic rankings school-wide and everyone’s pissed.”

“So you guys know why they’re messing with me.”

“It’s stupid jealousy,” Leona and Ruggie said in perfect synch.

“Ignore it,” the latter added with a snort. “Weak dogs howl the loudest. Though you obviously don’t need us to tell you since it doesn’t look like you’re giving them the time of day.”

“I’m used to it.” Yuu shrugged. “Plus, compared to what I went through in Savanaclaw, it feels like sort of a tickle.”

“That’s our Yuu-kun,” Ruggie laughed, squeezing her.

“Ow,” Yuu wheezed, unable to hide her responding grin.

Leona narrowed his eyes at her. “Don’t tell me you got injured _again_. You just had your bandages taken off.”

“How did you…” she stopped herself. “Not an injury. It’s just muscle pain. I got roped into climbing the mountain behind NRC’s building yesterday, that’s all. You know how bad I am with physical education.”

“Mountain,” Ruggie repeated slowly, hands pausing on her back. “…Hey, Yuu-kun. The person who roped you in doesn’t happen to be a hundred and ninety centimetres tall, does he?”

“Huh?” Yuu blinked. “You know Leech-senpai too? Did he feed you mushrooms or something? They’re pretty good, aren’t they.”

The room went silent.

“You damn _troublemaker_ ,” Leona collapsed on his back.

“ _Every single time_ ,” Ruggie squeezed her harder, all emotion dropping from his face. “When I thought you couldn’t get any. Worse.”

“Ouch! Easy on the triceps!”

“Shoulda asked about your part-time job,” groaned Leona, staring skyward. “I was so sure you were helping with the school store. To think that I believed Crowley wouldn’t throw a lady in that dismal cave… _tch_ _._ ”

“Why does everyone react like this every time I mention Mostro Lounge?” Yuu surveyed their reactions bemusedly. “I didn’t even mention anything other than Leech-senpai’s _name_ and you all start freaking out.”

“Yuu-kun,” Ruggie said weakly. “You’re working in a place no girl should step foot in. I won’t mince words. You should quit. I’ll even help you—I’ve been in and out of the Lounge a few times…”

“Don’t, the octo-bastard will catch on,” Leona rubbed his brow with a glove. “Just stop showing up properly and maybe you can get yourself fired. …But he might send those two to take care of you instead. _Tch_. Herbivore, are you incapable of sensing danger?”

“I’m not going to _quit_ Mostro Lounge,” Yuu spluttered. “What’s wrong with you guys? It’s completely law-abiding, you know.”

“Well…that’s true…” Ruggie said doubtfully.

“Just because some of the staff are a little off doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with the jobs,” she continued.

“You have no damn idea. Not only are you a _female_ ,” Leona ground out, “those fish don’t treat humans like anything other than punching bags. Especially the lanky ones. Not to mention that fraud of a Dorm Head. He’s the real one to watch out for.”

“Ashengrotto-senpai’s not a fraud,” Yuu protested.

“Oh no,” Ruggie’s voice was heavy with despair. “Not _again_.”

“I’ve got a hands-off policy for us and ours,” Leona enunciated his words with inordinate calm, but she could tell he wasn’t happy. Yuu stared at him wide-eyed. “I haven’t stopped you from hanging out with those Heartslabyul brats. Sleeping over and playing nice with the Queen. Wandering all over school. Looking for a way home. But this is where I draw the line, herbivore—like hell am I letting you walk right into that underwater lair by yourself.”

“Leona-san’s pretty lenient, you know,” Ruggie commented, still sounding shaken. “If I were him I’d’ve tied you up somewhere _long_ before things got to this point. Dammit, should’ve searched more closely to see who you were friends with in this school.”

“Wait,” Yuu watched their mood plummet with disbelieving eyes. “You looked me up? How? And people _really_ don’t like Octavinelle.”

“We’ve had dealings with them before,” Leona said shortly. “Recently, too.”

Yuu didn’t push, since she could sort of guess where he was going. “Still not quitting,” she said firmly. “Plus, we’re done with the punching bag part already. They’re not so bad when you get used to them.”

“ _Done with the punching bag part already!?_ ” Ruggie’s voice rose shrilly.

“ _Oi_ ,” Leona’s voice fell to a bass rumble.

“It’s not so different from what your dorm students did to me,” Yuu eyed them. “Stop freaking out. We’ve er…smoothed out our relationship. I think.”

“Our dorm is _our_ dorm,” Ruggie’s grip tightened further. “Unlike this place, you’re an outsider there without anyone to save your ass.”

“To think that you went under my nose sneaking around in another dorm…getting _injured_ in another dorm without permission,” Leona laughed lowly, pushing himself up lazily. “You’ve sure got guts, herbivore.”

“What should we do, Leona-san?” Ruggie was wearing his unfriendly smile again. Yuu didn’t need to look at him to know how cold those grey-blue eyes were. “Start planning revenge?”

“Don’t be so hasty, Ruggie,” Leona revealed his teeth. “We need more info first. Then we can make them regret the day the herbivore stepped into their fancy little café.”

“Okay, _stop_ ,” Yuu couldn’t listen anymore. “First of all, why do I sound like an adulterous spouse? I’m not a Savanaclaw student, you know. Second, why are you two so eager to get violent with people? Octavinelle didn’t even do anything to you! And third of all! I’m not quitting!”

“Why?” Ruggie asked, a slightly manic look in his eye as he shoved his face closer to hers. “You can find any part-time job anywhere else. Hell, Leona-san can double whatever that Azul-kun is offering just for doing his laundry.”

“Cool it, Ruggie,” Leona clicked his tongue. “…Oi, herbivore. Why didn’t you ask me for permission? Or at least for my advice, like the other times.”

“Why do I have to ask you for permission!?” Yuu pushed at Ruggie’s chin, trying to create distance. “I barely _knew_ you when I started!”

“Then you should’ve quit after the Magift tourney,” Leona rummaged in his jeans pockets. “Nothing good can come out of actually working for that octo-bastard, leaving alone a day or two of part-time work that people like Ruggie try once or twice a semester. Is it money that’s a problem?”

“Put that wallet away!” Yuu yelped. “Ruggie-senpai, calm _down_ , okay?”

“Hyenas are _territorial_ ,” Ruggie refused to budge. He was growling low in his throat.

“I’m a _person_ ,” she insisted, wondering if he was going to bite her for real. Ruggie had that slightly feral look Aardvark had worn prior to punching her. Plus, he’d bitten her before, though both of them had been half-asleep last time that happened.

“You’re gonna be Citizen Number One in my new kingdom in a few years, anyway,” Leona shrugged like it was nothing. “I can put an advance on your payment. First, we gotta get you out of that place before we can set up payments. And get you some form of identification. Not having a government-issued ID here is a problem…”

“Merlin’s beard, they’re all insane,” Yuu whispered. “Guys. Seriously. I like it at Mostro Lounge! It’s fun! How did we even get onto this conversation?”

“You’re the insane one,” Leona stared at her like she’d finally lost her last screw. “ _Fun?_ ”

“Jade-kun could’ve murdered you without a second’s hesitation when he dragged you into the mountains yesterday!” Ruggie shook her shoulders. “Maybe you can’t tell, but that fish ain’t normal!”

Yuu remembered Jade dangling her from the cliff and swallowed. “So…they might be a little scary…But! It’s okay now,” she quickly dismissed it, “They’re my coworkers. Co-work-ers. We’re professional enough to—!”

“—What did he do to you?” Leona asked very softly, fixing her with his emerald gaze.

Yuu’s sentence cut off. The pressure in the air skyrocketed enough where she could feel it tangibly pressing against her. If he had been irritated before, now Leona was angry.

“And the twin,” Ruggie added slowly, voice dropping as the growling increased in volume. “Yuu-kun, I know you. Floyd-kun _hates_ weak people that turn their teeth on him. Like you. What aren’t you telling us?”

“ _What_?!” How could he tell what Floyd would think of her? “Nothing! No one did anything to me! Stop it with the third degree. Leona-senpai, nothing happened!”

“Ruggie, seal the door and the windows,” Leona pushed himself upright, seizing the Dorm Head’s long wooden staff leaning on his headboard and spinning it into a Magical Pen with a flick of his wrist and a sparkle of light. “This secretive little herbivore is going to get herself killed if someone doesn’t intervene. _Now_. Methods be damned.”

“Leona-senpai put that Pen down,” Yuu’s voice rose. “Ruggie-senpai let me go! What are you to going to—!”

“Stay still, Yuu-kun,” Ruggie said sweetly, arms forming an unbreakable band across her shoulders, “and we won’t have to get rough.”

Her racing mind remembered a conversation with her friends last week.

_“Yell if you’re in trouble,” Deuce told her._

_“For Jack,” Ace clarified. “He’ll come running. Probably.”_

Yuu sucked in a breath. “JACK!”

—

“What the hell are you guys doing? Senpai,” Jack added hastily. Still, his politeness could not cover the dissatisfaction that lent his scowl depth.

“They’re frickin’ scary,” Yuu, plastered to his back, ducked out to the side and pointed at Leona and Ruggie in turn. The former was whipping his tail against the bed in ill-humour, staring out the window; the latter crossed his arms under his scarf and pouted in a criminally cute manner that usually dispelled any anger or caution she might have had.

“Okay, so maybe we got a little excited,” Ruggie gave her doe eyes. “But Yuu-kun, you really need to tell us things. Else I can’t be held responsible for my actions.”

“You sound like a _criminal_!” Yuu refused to succumb to it. “In the first place, it’s my prerogative to work where I want.”

“Tch.” Leona displayed his opinion with a singularly irritated click of the tongue.

“Two upperclassmen bullying a tiny first-year…” Jack sighed. “Sometimes I wonder why I respect you two so much.”

“Jack, when did you get acquainted with the herbivore?” Leona glared at him. “What happened to your insistence on not hanging out with other people?”

“I’m not _hanging out_ with anyone, I’m just doing what should be done here!” Jack’s voice rose.

“Jack’s my favourite Savanaclaw student now,” Yuu put her nose in the air. “Unlike you guys he treats me like a person. Not _territory_ or something stupid.”

“Oi!” Jack spluttered, tail whipping her in the thigh as it waved back and forth. “Stop sticking to me you moron! I didn’t come here to help you!”

“If you quit now, I’ll have Jack turn into his wolf form so you can ride on it, weekly,” Leona bargained.

“Senpai!?” Jack gaped at him.

Yuu’s glare stalled. “…I’m not quitting,” she said weakly.

“Are you kidding me? _That_ almost worked!?” Ruggie gave her an incredulous stare.

Jack coughed loudly to stop that idea from going any further. “…Yuu, what’re you doing here so much, anyway? It’s not like you’re a Savana student but I see you around all the time now.”

“I _was_ hanging out with those lugs I call friends,” Yuu cast Ruggie and Leona unimpressed glances from just within the doorway, where she was using Jack as a barrier. She refrained from mentioning that Ruggie had literally kidnapped her a second time. Even with everything, Yuu still liked these guys, probably more than necessarily healthy for her.

Jack gave her a strange look.

Yuu grinned up at him. “Thanks for saving me, Jack. Ace and Deuce were right when they said you were the best person to call.”

“I didn’t do it for you,” Jack growled, tail thumping against her thigh again. “Stop being so mushy.”

“I had a terrible thought,” Ruggie said slowly, observing them. “You don’t think Yuu-kun could manage to tame _those two_ …do you?”

“Stop right there,” Leona groaned. “It’s impossible even for him. Mermen are soulless, and they’re only loyal to the octo-bastard anyway.”

“Better not say that to anyone from Octa,” the hyena stifled a snicker.

“Why does everyone think I tame people!? Is there no concept of friendship in this entire school?” Yuu craned her neck up to look plaintively at Jack. “We’re friends, right?”

“ _Huh!?_ ” Jack gaped. “I don’t hang out with people.”

“You don’t necessarily have to hang around with me to be my friend,” Yuu said doubtfully.

“Don’t get the wrong idea,” Jack looked away, scowl deepening. “You’re just too unreliable to leave safely by yourself. That absentmindedness is gonna cause trouble for everyone.”

“Yuu-kun,” Ruggie stage-whispered. “He’s just embarrassed.”

Jack whipped his head in his direction. “Ruggie-senpai!”

“Get out from behind there, herbivore.” Leona scooted back to lean against the headboard of his bed. “And Jack, you might as well stay too. We still haven’t gotten to the point of today’s little tea-party yet.”

“No,” Yuu stuck her tongue out at him. “I’m not happy with you right now.”

“…Whatever. Listen from where you are, then,” Leona yawned, rolling his eyes. “I went and studied the broom you were enchanting last time and came up empty, but we’ve gone through enough theory. Last time, you just chanted spells at a wall. It’s time to pit your magic against ours.”

“Broom you were enchanting?” Jack repeated slowly.

“I told you about my magic, right?” Yuu prompted his memory. She pointed to a corner of a room where it was propped up. “Leona-senpai got interested in why it’s so different from your magic, so we’ve been experimenting since…last week? I think.”

“ _Shi shi shi._ Jack-kun, weren’t you asking about the crashing noises coming from Leona-san’s room? That was when we were going through the entire repertoire of this kid’s spells.” Ruggie jerked a thumb at her. “You saw during the Overblot. Yuu-kun here has some seriously destructive magic.”

“And like us, they fly on brooms,” Leona added amusedly as Yuu and Jack found spots to sit on the raised carpeted dais atop which his bed was perched. “Though the herbivore has such a fear of heights that his broom-enchanting is going disastrously.”

Yuu decided not to tell him that when she’d tried to show Ace and Deuce, the other broom had been blasted to pieces. “You guys can’t even enchant brooms yet, so I don’t wanna hear it.”

“Leona-senpai’s right,” Jack told her gruffly, crossing his legs so his knee knocked into hers. “I know you’re trying to keep your magic hidden, but the present is more important than the future. There’s no meaning if you don’t’ show your own power.”

“That’s not why,” Leona rolled his eyes, “cool it with the hot-headedness. It’s a better idea for the herbivore to be all secretive, but there’s a bigger reason behind why he’s even here in the first place. I’m suspicious that the magic has to do with it.”

“A different world…” Jack furrowed his brow.

“Jack doesn’t believe me either,” Yuu sighed exasperatedly. “I know it’s pretty outlandish, but if people travel in time, they can travel through space.”

“Travel through _time_?” Leona repeated. “…Can you magicians—”

“Wizards.”

“—Do anything?”

“I mean technically all the methods of doing so were destroyed in 1995…er, more than two decades ago,” she shrugged, “but it’s not impossible to create some new ones. Though messing with time is kind of taboo.”

“Hmm,” Leona emitted consideringly.

“Sorry, Yuu,” Jack shook his head. “Not that I don’t want to believe you. But I make it a point of only believing what I can see with my own two eyes. All this time and space stuff is out of my league.”

“We’re getting off-topic again,” Ruggie leaned forwards precariously on his chair. “Anyway, Jack-kun, it’s less ‘practice Yuu-kun’s magic to use it’ and more ‘figure out the reason why he’s here’. Got it?”

“I guess,” Jack said doubtfully. “Yuu, you said you were trying to find a way home, right? Is this part of it?”

“I’m not as smart as Leona-senpai, but he seems to think so, so I’m just going along with it,” Yuu said sheepishly, scratching her head. “What he says makes a lot of sense.”

“…Are you sure it’s okay to trust him _that_ completely?” Jack didn’t seem satisfied. “He did order you to be kidnapped. Among other things.”

“You got guts, insulting me right to my face,” Leona drawled. “Jack…are you prepared?”

“Oh, stop it,” Yuu rolled her eyes. “Of course I trust him. He’s Leona-senpai.”

“Isn’t that exactly why you _shouldn’t_ trust him?” Jack muttered. “…This is why I can’t leave you alone.”

“I thought you really respected him,” Yuu cocked her head to the side questioningly.

“That’s—! Got nothing to do with trustworthiness!” Jack protested.

“But Leona-senpai is really good to people he doesn’t hate…”

“Are we talking about the same person!?”

“Give it up while you’re ahead, Jack,” Ruggie said tiredly. “See, Yuu-kun’s never had a real friend before he came here. Plus he’s used to be treated like a hyena at the dregs of the Savannah. Anyone who likes him is ‘nice’ and everyone who doesn’t treat him like shit is a ‘good person’. Let alone this guy whose sense of monetary value is broken. Somehow Yuu’s managed to impress Leona-san, and well…his idea of expressing affection is by buying stuff. Like a house renovation.”

“So you bought Yuu’s friendship?” Jack said distrustfully.

“No he didn’t,” Yuu hurried to defend Leona. “I don’t care about monetary possessions that much anyway. Leona-senpai’s my _friend_. I trust him. That’s it.”

“The herbivore just loves me,” Leona said smugly, stretching. “No need to be jealous.”

“I like Ruggie-senpai and Jack too,” Yuu pointed out. “So anyway, what are we doing today? Duelling?”

“Jack here is good with defensive magic,” Leona explained. “Not as good as me, but for a first year, he’s got the basics down pat.”

“I just practice,” Jack grunted. “This much is natural.”

“You’re going to shoot everything you know from your… first two years at your magic school, was it? At him while he defends.” Leona ignored him. “We’re going to observe the reaction. I’ve got a good idea of the feel of being attacked, but I don’t know what it looks like from the outside.”

“Don’t make Jack your guinea pig for something like that!” Yuu protested.

“…No, let me do it,” Jack shook his head. “I’ll admit I’ve been dying to see what it’s like to fight you, Yuu. And I can’t trust either of these senpai not to injure you again.”

“Hey, hey. I’m not gonna injure Yuu-kun,” protested Ruggie. “I got better control than you, first-year brat.”

Jack evidently did not believe him. “How strong does my defence need to be?”

“Strong,” Leona answered for her. “Don’t hold back. You’ve seen the destructive force of his attacks. We’re not going half that far today, but better not underestimate it.”

“… _su._ ” Jack made a noise of agreement. If she looked closer, his amber eyes were lively with excitement even if he wasn’t smiling.

“Can’t believe I used to think Savanaclaw was like Ravenclaw,” Yuu muttered to herself, sliding out her wand. “Is everything in this room protected?”

“Go wild,” Leona waved a lazy glove. “But none of your invented spells…or whatever you call ‘em. We’ll be here all night.”

—

Jack was, to put it mildly, a fan of Yuu’s magic. There was a bit of wonder in his face when he stood across from her that exceeded Grim’s, Ace’s and Deuce’s quickly forgotten expressions of admiration. Yuu knew—and was deeply appreciative—that it was because neither her partner nor her best friends cared about magic as much as they cared about _her_ , but all the same, it was gratifying to see another get infected with the love of the magic that had changed her life.

He was also an excellent spellcaster. Class A hadn’t yet been paired with Class B for practicals, but only Yuu’s Severing Charm managed to penetrate Jack’s defensive magic, though it was neutralized in short order by a watching Leona.

The Savanaclaw Dorm Head was right (as usual). Yuu’s magic was fundamentally incompatible with the magic found in Twisted Wonderland, and with each contact of her spell against Jack’s barrier, a bright burst of sparks and heat drove both of them backwards. Jack reported feeling a strong resistance, stronger than most attack magic he’d been faced with, as well as a curious tingling not unlike that of static electricity.

Yuu herself was surprised that his defensive magic could neutralise her own this easily. She was aware now that those with strong magical defences (like Leona) could break even a Full Body Bind cast by her, but before she had been under the impression that spells were mostly for attacking with the elements.

Leona had been right when he’d told her that any of her spells weakened when defended against. Since even a Severing Charm could be lethal, this was a good thing, but it was a little unsettling that Leona could break normally powerful attacking magic with a simple flick of his Pen.

So far, Ruggie had summarised, they’d figured out that Yuu’s magic, when cast, was weakened by around twenty percent of its original power when defended against. (Leona calculated the numbers.) This was strange when one took into account how easily he could use his Unique Magic on her. Over dinner, consisting of a deliciously filling meat soup that Ruggie had prepared ahead of time, Yuu and Jack worked on their homework due the next day while Leona and Ruggie debated theories back and forth.

Since Jack slept at a blasphemously early hour of 10 PM, Yuu was hard-pressed to follow his pace as he tore through questions. Even if she was a Ravenclaw, NRC was a prestigious school with a prestigious level of intelligent people. For all of his posturing about being a ‘lone wolf,’ though, Jack always paused when Yuu got lost and explained concepts patiently to her. By the time they were finished, Yuu’s opinion of him had gone up sky-high.

Neither of Savanaclaw’s upperclassmen were pleased with Yuu’s involvement in the Mostro Lounge (why was Octavinelle so reviled everywhere?) so they roped—nearly threatened—her into staying overnight in her usual room for ‘observation’. During Leona and Yuu’s nightly chess game, Yuu managed to somewhat convince him and Ruggie to forget about their bias against Mostro Lounge, though she drew the line when Leona told her he would drop it if she just moved into what he called ‘her room’.

Ruggie, unexpectedly, acted as an ally. “Do you know what the idiots in here are _like_?” he asked incredulously. “If any of them sneak into her room in the middle of the night and figure out she’s a girl…!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll tear them to pieces before anything happens,” Leona said like it was nothing.

“Get in line,” Ruggie said darkly. “…That’s not it! Sleepovers are one thing. Hell if the Heartslabyul bunch hasn’t gotten her to stay in their dorm for a week. But you’re moving too fast! We gotta make sure _everything_ is ready before we switch her in, you irresponsible prince!”

“It was just a suggestion,” Leona rolled his eyes as she squinted at the chessboard between them. “Relax, Ruggie, there’s a long way to go before it really happens.”

“Who’s the one prematurely driving up my blood pressure!?”

“Too fast?” Yuu repeated in confusion. “What happens?”

Leona’s tail thumped her lightly in the forehead. “Ignore him. Now hurry up and make the next move, it’s your turn.”

After making a promise to visit again in the coming week so they could keep experimenting with her magic, Yuu was dragged out the door at an ungodly hour of five A.M. the next morning to accompany Jack on his daily run (Leona, who was preparing for his morning Magift practice, had collapsed laughing at the horror on her face). She was still sore from climbing a mountain, so after five minutes in which the gap between them widened irreparably, Jack came all the way back from the mouth of the mirror where she wheezed, pulled her up into a piggyback, and completed the rest of his run without complaint.

“Aren’t I heavy?” Yuu asked him apprehensively as he puffed his way around the grounds where physical education classes were held.

“Just right,” Jack grunted. “I needed a weight today anyway.”

“I was _wondering_ why you let me come with you today,” Yuu nodded in satisfaction. It hadn’t made sense for someone who liked being alone as much as Jack to actively seek her out.

“I’ll come get you again next time. You’re just the right weight for a good challenge.”

“Huh!? To Ramshackle? I’m not a morning person!”

“Then become one.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Yuu protested, shading her eyes against the rising sun. “…You still are an NRC student after all, huh, Jack?”

“Since when was I not? You should have a better sleeping schedule too,” Jack lectured, low voice bouncing with his long strides. “I’m doing you a favour by fixing your disorderly life. You should thank me.”

“I wanna _sleep_ ,” she whined. “You sound like Rosehearts-senpai.”

“Sleep at ten. _You’ve_ just been poisoned by those two morons from Heartslabyul and your cat. Someone told me once that the hours between eleven and two are the most important for your body, so stop fooling around with them and rest your body properly.”

“Has anyone ever called you overly serious?” Yuu refrained from mentioning that she herself was used to late hours in the library.

“All the time.” Jack sounded derisive. “It’s their problem for being slack. I can’t stand those kinds of people. Plus…you’re serious yourself.”

“I think I lose to you,” she told him dryly, making herself comfortable across his shoulders. Yuu contented herself with the opportunity to study his amazingly tall wolf ears. She wanted to pet them, but Jack was probably not okay with it, so she settled with staring as they crossed the lightening campus.

Thanks to her sleepover—and showing up at Class A with Jack in the morning—Grim was once again in a bad mood all day. It took Yuu feeding him by hand at lunchtime (to Ace’s derision) and hours of cajoling before he fixed his glare, though all her progress was erased when he realized she had a shift that afternoon.

“I don’t even know you anymore,” Grim whined, digging his paws painfully into her shoulders in Ramshackle’s renovated lounge.

“Grim,” Yuu sighed. “…Move to the right a bit. Yep. That’s the spot.”

“Damn, henchman, you’re full of knots.”

“It’s been a long week.” Yuu made a satisfied noise as his paw dug into a tender spot. “I’ll see if I can snag you some leftover food from work, okay? They make really good seafood there. Will you forgive me with that?”

“ _Funa_?! You work in a place that makes food?”

“I’m sure we went over this already.”

“I forgot,” Grim leapt to her other shoulder, mood swinging upwards. “Seafood, huh? Fish…heh heh. Better be delicious. Fine! Fine. While you’re gone I’ll do my homework.”

“Do your _homework_?!” Yuu gasped. “Who are you and what did you do with Grim?”

“Oh, shut up!” Grim rolled his eyes. “I have to ace my exams so I can be a great magician, don’t I? Just watch me get the highest score in alchemy next month.”

“…Right,” Yuu said doubtfully. “If you want, I can check your work when I come back.”

“I don’t need you to,” Grim said confidently. “You just wait and get wowed, Yuu.”

She was almost a hundred percent sure he wasn’t _actually_ going to do his homework, but Yuu was going to be late if she didn’t hurry, so she only spared him a suspicious look before heading for the Hall of Mirrors. It wasn’t really any of her business if Grim wanted to be diligent or not. He was well aware of his responsibilities as a student. Plus, she had the sneaking feeling he’d be asking her for help in the end.

By now it was easy enough to ignore her discomfort crossing a mirror alone—if anyone else were present, Yuu would be attached to them like a real barnacle, but it wasn’t useful to be afraid all the time when the situation was unavoidable.

However, when she entered the Lounge hall, straightening her poorly tied ribbon, Yuu almost turned around and left. Jade was standing straight-backed at the entranceway, smiling in her direction. It was wide enough to mean that he was _really_ amused and not just being polite.

“Good afternoon, Mister Directing Student,” he said delightedly as Yuu stopped in her tracks. “Sometimes I forget how bold you are. I was almost expecting you not to show up today.”

“I wish I hadn’t,” she muttered. “…Good afternoon, senpai. Aaand goodbye.”

“There’s no need to be so ready to run,” Jade lifted a glove to his mouth in his signature polite laugh. “I told you, the test has been passed. Please rest assured that I will not be inflicting further trauma on your person…mental or physical.”

“I’d tell you how much I believed you,” Yuu shot him a tight smile. “But I don’t. At all. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to head to the kitchen.”

“How sad…am I not trustworthy?” Jade’s brows drew together; he took a long step forward.

“It’s kind of hard to trust someone who doesn’t like you to the point where they’re willing to murder you?” Yuu pointed out, edging backwards.

Jade blinked several times. “I do believe you are mistaken, Mister Directing Student.”

“Sorry?”

“Since when did I say I disliked you now?”

“…” Yuu thought back. “…You deemed me a threat to the people important to you?”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t find you an enjoyable existence. I’ve said so, have I not? Your being a dangerous existence is completely separate to your being a _fascinating_ one. As a seeker of knowledge yourself, do we not have that in common?”

“That’s…” she was stuck for a good comeback, mostly because he was right.

Jade took advantage to close the distance. “And your ribbon is still wrong. _Fu fu._ It’s been quite a long time since you’ve started here…to think that you would be this clumsy at straightening your appearance. Now stay still.”

“No thanks! I can fix—” Yuu backed up a wider step and nearly tripped over something behind her.

“He~y, Koebi-chan,” It turned out to be Floyd, whose voice came in its usual relaxed drag above her head. “Heard you went on a nice date with Jade. Have you seen…oh, there you are. Ja~de, where am I stationed tonight?”

“Ah, Floyd. You’re in the kitchen. Do hold on to Mister Directing Student for me, won’t you?”

“Roger,” Floyd draped himself over her shoulders, resting his chin on her head listlessly. “You’re so little, Koebi-chan. Sometimes I wonder how you’re even alive. A _ha_! That ribbon looks ridiculous!”

“Senpai,” Yuu whined as Jade expertly undid it and retied the string snugly against her neck. “There’s no such thing as a _nice_ anything with Leech-senpai. In fact, I think I made _un_ -nice with him.”

“That means the same thing with this guy,” Floyd told her, jerking a thumb with his brother. “I guess since it’s Jade, I won’t mind too much if symbiote with the both of us…what’s with that face? You don’t wanna?”

“Why, Floyd…” Jade paused, losing all expression from his face for one heart-stopping moment.

“No way!” Yuu shook her head vehemently. “Even he thinks it’s a terrible—”

“…You are a _genius_! Why didn’t I think of that sooner?”

Yuu gaped as a genuine (and kind of frightening) smile broke out upon the face that resembled Floyd’s so much. Was _everyone_ in this school insane?

“Obviously. Praise me more,” Floyd swayed her back and forth in good cheer.

Never mind. Stupid question.

“My choice in the matter is?” Yuu asked weakly.

“Nonexistent,” Jade smiled cheerfully.

“Did you think you had one?” Floyd retorted.

“You look like you’d toss me aside in a week after you got bored, though,” Yuu grumbled, “I’m not a toy, you know.”

“Obviously,” Floyd peered down into her face. “Are you stupid? You’re Koebi-chan. Though fragile enough to break like a toy.”

“Careful with the goods, then,” she rolled her eyes. “And stop poking me with your chin! It’s sharp! Ow!”

“A _ha_! Koebi-chan, you’re _soooo_ weak.”

“Floyd does tend to get bored easily,” Jade put a fist underneath his chin in thought. “Though he also doesn’t go back on his word.”

“You kno~w, Jade’s a lot more cautious about this stuff than me,” Floyd told her conspiratorially, “even though _he_ liked you way before I did.”

“Before you realized you did,” Jade corrected with a cough. “With the nickname you chose for him, Floyd, you can’t possibly say you didn’t decide on him as soon as you met him.”

“What does that mean?” Yuu asked curiously.

Floyd cut across her. “Ahh, whatever! Jade finally got over his whole thing, so your last chance to run went down the drain. We’re pretty persistent…it’s pro~bably better for you to give up now. And it’s not like you don’t like us, right?”

“I don’t like you,” Yuu responded flatly, still swaying as he pushed them back and forth.

“Oh my,” Jade blinked in false surprise.

“He’s lying,” Floyd sang without missing a beat.

“I think you are both pains in the asses,” she clarified politely. “ _And_ I don’t like you.”

“What kind of language is that towards an upperclassman?”

“I’m using polite speech, aren’t I?” Yuu smiled angelically up at him.

“It’s how easily you interact with us, knowing how dangerous we are, that makes it difficult to just ‘ignore’ someone as fascinating as Mister Shrimp,” Jade told her. “Floyd’s right. Why don’t you give up while you’re ahead?”

“I don’t even want to ‘symbiote’ with any of you or whatever,” Yuu grumbled as Floyd started to steer her in the direction of the kitchen. “What do you _do_ , anyway?”

“Weird question,” Floyd shrugged. “We thrive. It’s not like _you_ can survive by yourself. And you’ve got the double-whammy of not knowing anything about this world’s common sense, right? No one’s gonna mess with us on Land or in the sea, so you’re better off agreeing and sticking under one of our fins.”

He was right. Yuu would like to see anyone try to mess with Floyd Leech.

“I seriously doubt the sanity of both you and your brother sometimes…but then you go and start making sense…” Yuu sighed exhaustedly and gave up on chasing the line of conversation any further lest she get accidentally convinced. “What’s the menu today?”

When Floyd was in a good mood, he was extremely useful, teaching her preparing techniques and rattling off memorized menus like it was nothing. Though she was reluctant to go along with his shenanigans, Yuu knew how smart he was—and he _was_ her superior—so she obeyed him to the letter.

As exam season approached, the volume of students staying out late to play and dine in Mostro Lounge dropped accordingly despite the cold weather. Yuu was used to dishing out hundreds of orders during dinner rush hours, but to her surprise, two hours before close that evening, the Lounge hall had drained empty of customers. The only noise within the quiet café was the slow waltz of the background jazz music.

“Why is there no one around?” Yuu asked Jade, who was out wiping tables, pulling on a fresh set of gloves. “And I’m here to take over for you, if you want to have your break.”

“We _are_ almost exactly halfway through November,” Jade said mildly. “Usually, the students of Octavinelle place highly in school exams as a whole, so they must be beginning their studying. This way.”

“Wait. _I’m_ not taking the break, you are,” Yuu protested as he ushered her into a seat. Although far too weak to fight his escorting—she’d learned on their mushroom-picking trip that he was a lot stronger than he looked—the unprecedented courtesy he was showing towards her was more than a little unsettling.

“Humour me,” Jade slid in on her left side. “Floyd got to spend all afternoon with you. The least you could do, Mister Directing Student, is spare me fifteen minutes.”

Her legs were still sore from their mountain trip two days ago, so Yuu shrugged and leaned back against the plush couch. “What about you, senpai? Do you like studying?”

“Sure. What I’m interested in,” he elaborated pleasantly. “Although unfortunately, I have little concern about the way society views my scores. And you? I’m sure catching up with sixteen years of education in a new world must be enormously difficult.”

“Let’s just say it’s a good thing I like reading,” Yuu said weakly. “Recently classes have been getting pretty overwhelming. Everyone at this school is smart, too.”

“Including _me_ ,” Floyd squeezed in on her other side, his silent entrance making her jump. “What’s with you two taking a break while I slave my ass off in the kitchen? So unfair! Koebi-chan, I did all the cooking tonight. Praise me!”

Yuu now understood why Jade called his brother spoiled. But Floyd’s creations tonight had indeed looked mouth-watering as they travelled out to the tables, so she rolled her eyes with a small grin. “Fine. Thanks for your hard work, senpai. You did a great job.”

“Eh heh heh.” Floyd collapsed against her side in high spirits, sending her knocking into Jade. “So didja make up with Jade yet? He’s pretty bad at expressing his emotions, you know.”

“I thought that was you.”

“Cheeky,” he pulled at hers. “Koebi-chan you’re lucky I like you. A less patient Merman might’ve snapped you in half by now.”

“You _like_ me?!” Yuu spluttered, rubbing at her sore cheek. “How many times did you try to kill me?”

“That’s normal. Are you blind? It kinda pisses me off how much we like you,” Floyd said matter-of-factly. “Though you also piss me off, period. But I try to kill Jade all the time and I like him.”

“If this is how you treat people you like, I don’t wanna know what happens to people you don’t.”

“A wise decision,” Jade supported Yuu as Floyd squeezed her against him further. “Won’t you forgive me for what happened two nights ago? Mister Directing Student. You don’t strike me as one to hold grudges for long.”

“…I’m not _mad_ at you,” Yuu relented with a sigh, “but hanging out with the two of you seems extremely troublesome.”

“That so?” Floyd glanced over her head at Jade.

“I haven’t ‘hung out’ with anyone enough to know,” Jade shrugged back. “Although Azul does call us something similar at times.”

“Azul’s more troublesome than all of us put together,” Floyd pointed out.

“If he hears you, he might burst a vein,” Jade chuckled. “ _I don’t want to hear it from you_ , he’d shout. Floyd is quite skilled at angering Azul.”

Yuu, who could visualize Azul shouting those words at Floyd down to the glasses sliding down his nose, couldn’t resist her snort of laughter. “You three are already perfect together,” she said. “You don’t need to bother me, too.”

“Why?” Floyd blinked at her.

“Are you a five-year-old kid?” Yuu deadpanned. “Because. I don’t like you.”

“Yeah you do, stupid shrimp.” Floyd leaned his head on top of hers. Compared to Jack, he was almost boneless, his skin chilly and soft. “Stop lying to yourself already. And Azul wouldn’t mind if it was you we picked anyway. Since _he_ likes you himself…likes…you… _aah_!”

“What now?” Yuu yelped as Floyd’s voice rose into a shout.

He ignored her. “Jade! What if Azul _eats_ Koebi-chan!?”

“ _Eats_!?” Yuu spluttered as he jerked upright, swaying. “I’m going to get eaten!?”

“…You think he would?” Jade blinked in surprise.

“Dunno. Azul likes him though. You know how greedy he is.” Floyd puffed out his cheeks. “But he’s kind of slow about this stuff sometimes, like you, so maybe he won’t notice. Then I can play around with Koebi-chan until Azul figures it out.”

“If Azul wants Mister Directing Student, he can have him, I suppose,” Jade said bemusedly. “Though it will be a little disappointing. Floyd, I don’t think Azul cares that much…”

“Stupid Jade! He doesn’t even try to be polite to the li’l shrimp anymore! It might not be obvious now but Azul’s even scarier than _you_ when he’s mad…” Floyd groaned and dragged Yuu on top of his legs with both arms in a mockery of a hug. “And when he finds something he wants…I don’t wanna! I _just_ picked Koebi-chan!”

“Senpai!?” Yuu yelped. Unlike Ruggie or Leona, she still wasn’t quite used to Floyd’s insistence for physical contact. If she weren’t the same way herself she might have run already.

“Don’t be a child, Floyd,” Jade chided, “put him back.”

“No,” Floyd stuck his tongue out.

“ _Gueh_ ,” Yuu emitted as the band around her stomach tightened. “Um…I have no idea what you strange Mermen were talking about just now…but Ashengrotto-senpai isn’t a cannibal, is he?”

“It’s a Merman joke,” Jade said pleasantly.

“Stop lying with a straight face,” Yuu fixed him with a flat stare, “and please help me before my insides come out of my mouth.”

“Don’t worry, we can just stuff ‘em back in after,” Floyd said cheerfully from behind her.

“You freaking psycho, I’ll die!”

“ _Oya_. It seems that Mister Directing Student prefers me over you,” Jade said in faux delight as Yuu strained to get away from Floyd’s iron grip. “How sad, Floyd. Now pass him over.”

“Like hell I will. You were too busy dragging your feet wondering if he’d bring disaster on your head like a moron. And Koebi-chan likes me more than you!”

“I don’t like any of you!”

“This is troubling,” Jade drew his brows together in thought. “I’ve never had to curry favour…never found it necessary to cater to the feelings of another before. What do humans do that makes others like them?”

“Why do I have to do somethin’ like that? So boring.” Floyd dragged out the last word. “Hey Koebi-chan. If you don’t like me right now, then hurry up and start.”

“I thought you’d be good at that,” Yuu blinked at Jade in surprise, ignoring the unreasonable person behind her. “You adopted that polite smile and attitude to conform with society, didn’t you?”

Jade blinked his mismatched eyes back in surprise, hand falling from his chin.

“Jade just goes overboard when he loses control,” Floyd told her, “so he figured the best way to get other people to let down their guard around him and give up info was to be polite. Doesn’t it sound frickin’ tiring? _Uge~h_. I’d never wanna do that.”

“I’d figure that everyone tends to like Leech-senpai,” Yuu leaned up so she could see the taller Leech peering down into her face. “At first, at least. Since he’s so helpful.”

“People here tend to figure out there’s something off when their deepest darkest secrets get splashed across the lounge bulletin boards whenever they do something that Jade doesn’t like,” Floyd squinted into her upside-down face. “Whoa, Koebi-chan! Your eyes are _really_ blue.”

“I didn’t expect to be observed _back_ this closely,” Jade sounded a little embarrassed. “I’m used to being the one doing the observing.”

“Did I make you uncomfortable?” Yuu turned back to him, despite Floyd’s protest.

“Instead of ‘uncomfortable,’ I would use ‘surprised’. ‘Hanging out’ with you brings so many new experiences…” Jade smiled ruefully at her. “I don’t think currying favour with Mister Directing Student is going to do anything if you are able to see through it so completely.”

“Bingo.” Yuu grinned at him. “I tend to observe people a lot, too. I’m not as good as you are, but it’s probably useless to put on a mask in front of me, of all people. I’d prefer if you were just you. …Even if you’re a little insane.”

“Told you, Jade. That’s what I was _saying_ ,” Floyd grumbled exasperatedly. “Koebi-chan doesn’t care about stuff most people do, like if you don’t act completely ‘human’ in front of him or whatever. So stop worrying, Jade.”

“ _Fu fu_. I’m always telling you to be _more_ careful, Floyd.”

“Okay, unimportant things aside, please help me,” Yuu reached out insistently, “this Strangler-senpai’s actually going to squeeze my organs out of my mouth.”

“Certainly.”

“Aah! Jade! Stop it, I found him first!” Floyd protested as Jade tugged her wrist.

“Isn’t he reaching for me? I must adopt Octavinelle’s spirit of mercy and help others in time of need.”

Yuu winced. Jade didn’t know his own power. “I don’t care who it is, just stop squeezing me, _please_!”

“…I open my door and…” Azul’s irate voice echoed over from the hallway as he neared. “I’m going to have to remove the soundproofing in the VIP Room. Who’s making a racket in the Lounge? How many times have I said that this is a _gentleman’s_ —”

He stopped talking abruptly.

“Azu~l,” Floyd drawled, “you’re so prickly lately. There’s no one here, it’s not like it matters if we play around a bit.”

“Please don’t worry, Azul,” Jade pressed a hand to his chest subserviently, the other one still too tight around her arm. “Floyd’s childishness is nothing new, and it hasn’t gotten out of hand. Rest assured that I won’t let anything happen.”

“You’re the reason we’re all here in the first place,” Yuu muttered, trying to pry his fingers off. “I wasn’t even going to take my break right now.”

“Hu~h? Koebi-chan, you should be _grateful_ that we even hang out with you in the first place.” Floyd squeezed again. “Where’s my _thank you_?”

“Ashengrotto-senpai!” Yuu strained out desperately, turning in his direction. “You’re the only half-sane person in this place! Leech-senpai’s just having fun and Strangler-senpai’s psychotic enough to literally squeeze my organs out of my body. Senpai, you can control them, right? Do something!”

But Azul’s glasses were sliding down the bridge of his nose as he stared at them. “…What the hell?” he murmured.

“Ashengrotto-senpai? Isn’t it your job to maintain a good working environment?” Yuu persisted weakly.

“Why is your attitude so different when it’s Azul?” Floyd put his chin on her head. “I told you he’s scarier than both of us.”

“That’s debatable,” Yuu tugged fruitlessly at his arms still wrapped around her stomach, giving up on Jade, “and unlike you guys, Ashengrotto-senpai is a hard worker and a good conversationalist and I like _him_.”

“Aw, c’mon. I’m a good conversationalist!” Floyd protested. “I’m a genius too! And Jade’s…actually I can’t think of anything.”

“Floyd! That’s terrible!” Jade cried, lifting a fist to his eye to wipe away an imaginary tear.

She couldn’t help her snort. “But both of you are insane.”

Azul was looking over their head at the bar and entrance to the kitchens with a complicated expression. “…No wonder everyone’s been staring in this direction like the world is collapsing,” he rubbed the bridge of his nose. “All right, the three of you. Into the VIP Room now. I want an explanation.”

“Explanation?” Yuu asked, confused. “About what? How crazy your two friends are?”

“You’re asking me _about what_ when you’re _sitting on Floyd’s lap_?” Azul stared at her bug-eyed.

“He was being forceful again. Not my fault.”

“I was in the process of aiding Mister Directing Student,” Jade said pleasantly.

“You’re not much better,” Yuu shot back.

“Get told,” Floyd snickered.

“I said. _Move_ it,” Azul ground out. “What the hell happened this past week? Stop traumatizing the rest of the staff, they look like they’re going to lose consciousness any second.”

“What’s he asking about?” Yuu asked Jade as Floyd pushed himself to his feet, still dangling from his grip.

“I wonder?” Jade cocked his head, matching her expression playfully.

Azul barked out, “Jade.”

“ _Fu fu_. I do apologize, Azul. It was a Merman joke.”

“Maybe your brother makes even worse jokes than me,” Yuu remarked to Floyd as he carried her out of the hall.

Floyd groaned. “You have _no idea_.”

—

“So you _fought with Floyd again_?” Azul, facing the three of them across the VIP Room’s seawater table, pointed his walking staff at either Merman squeezing Yuu in on either side of the couch. “And then you nearly _got killed by Jade_?”

“We made up,” Floyd said, like that made everything okay.

“‘Nearly killed’ is an exaggeration,” Jade drew his brows together with a smile. “I wasn’t really going to drop him.”

“Since they’re like _that_ ,” Yuu rubbed at her eyes tiredly, “I just sort of gave up. You wanted us to return to a working relationship, right, senpai? The results are kind of weird, but I did my best.”

“I have seen these two drive many the hapless victim insane,” Azul regarded her with a slow narrowing of his eyes. “Once again, it seems that your resilience outperforms my expectations, Yuu-san.”

“You asked me to do it,” she protested.

“But I didn’t think you _could_ ,” he countered. “Floyd, Jade—Yuu-san’s a weak human, you know? I don’t need to tell you how much trouble he’ll bring. Are you sure?”

“We’ve been through it,” Floyd shrugged.

“Indeed,” Jade smiled. “It’s worth some effort, we believe.”

“Koebi-chan doesn’t seem to get it yet, so I’m gonna symbiote with him ’til he does,” Floyd finished, leaning on Yuu who in turn was crushed against Jade’s side. “I’m even nicer than that Headmaster. Praise me!”

“What are you three talking about?” Yuu asked curiously, ignoring him.

“Never you mind,” Azul sniffed. “Well…if we’re only looking at results, there is nothing particularly wrong with the situation, although it seems what Headmaster Crowley said about you is true.”

“What’d he say?”

“That you are an excellent tamer of beasts…human and non-human alike.” Azul wrinkled his nose. “Though seeing it take place in front of my eyes is rather unsettling, it is a stroke of fortune that I manage to have you under my direction. I can _use_ this. Until these twins get tired of you, of course.”

“There it is again. Azul never stops,” Floyd laughed.

“Use what?”

“ _You_ ,” Azul leaned forwards. The light from the top of his cane, carved into a silver relief of an octopus, gleamed with the seawater and caught his alluring smile. “Against all odds, you still survive in this school through trial and tribulation. How foolish of me would it be not to use up every scrap of profit you could bring me. Of course, you can’t match up to my power, my talent, my gathered riches, but we could achieve great things together, you and I.”

“Great things?” Yuu repeated curiously. “What do you want to do, senpai? I always wonder why you’re working so hard.”

“Do you remember when I told you I was creating contracts before?” Azul curled his glove in the air. A shimmering sheet of parchment formed in his hand, glowing with light so that its yellow gleamed gold. “Such as these.”

“That was really cool,” Yuu regarded it wide-eyed.

“Azul has mentioned that he runs a side business here in the Mostro Lounge,” Jade took over at Azul’s nod. “You have seen many students come in and out of the VIP Room during restaurant hours, no? They are valued customers coming to him with requests.”

“Right…the general needs department—or that consulting business you mentioned,” Yuu remembered from her interview. “What do those have to do with contracts?”

“Why, all businesses use contracts to ensure things are carried out. Didn’t we create several when you were employed?” Azul pointed out.

“Employment contracts are different from terms of use stuff…” Yuu wrinkled her nose. “Wait. Don’t tell me you use magic or whatever on these contracts too. People _sign_ that? Do they read the entire thing?”

“A _ha_.” Floyd emitted. “What d’you think?”

“I think it should be illegal for you to cheat the poor students out of their stuff,” Yuu lifted a hand weakly, seeing where the conversation was going.

“Unexpected for Yuu-san to say so, since you know I don’t cheat,” Azul gave her a look.

“ _Technically_ you don’t cheat,” she corrected, crossing her arms. “Forgive me if, after reading that clause trapping me here for the rest of my school career in the event of any problems, I remain a little wary.”

“Azul, you _didn’t_ ,” Floyd sounded delighted.

“That early?” Jade murmured.

“I made him change it,” Yuu said primly.

“Wha~t? Boring! Hey Azul. You should bring Koebi-chan over to Octa,” Floyd drawled. “Life would be hilarious with him around all the time. Man, I have such good ideas.”

“Oh _hell_ no,” Yuu blurted.

“Stop dragging us off topic,” Azul snapped.

“So~rry,” Floyd said obediently.

“Sorry,” she echoed. Azul was scary when he was angry.

“The business I run is perfectly laid out at time of signature, anyway. I provide services no one else in this school can provide—you might say it’s a deal too good to resist.”

“And when the student can’t fulfil whatever unreasonable demands you put on the contract in return, you steal their voice or something?” Yuu finished, remembering the gist of _A Little Mermaid_ mostly forgotten in her youth.

Jade snorted.

“What would I want with the voices of a herd of teenage boys?” Azul wrinkled his nose disgustedly. “This isn’t a romance movie from over thirty years ago. I only take what I can use.”

“Like what?” He seemed to know what she was referring to. Did they have _‘A Little Mermaid’_ in this world, too?

“Like…” Azul paused. “I’ll show you eventually. Yuu-san, you’ll have front row seats…unless you’re willing to join the ranks of customers and provide your own request right now.”

“Is this about those exam notes again?” Yuu blinked. “I’m okay. I can figure it out by myself. Plus Professor Crewel might actually whip me to death if I borrowed help outside of studying.”

“Azul is hard-working, but Mister Directing Student isn’t too far off himself,” Jade remarked. “The two of you share many similarities.”

“Too many,” grumbled Floyd.

“I’m not half as cool as Ashengrotto-senpai,” Yuu protested. “He built a business in his _first year_ here.”

Azul, who had gotten used to her incessant praise of his person by now, only rolled his eyes with a condescending smile.

“That’s not all,” Jade nodded, “his exam notes are truly without equal.”

“They’re that good?”

“I’ve only taken the school records of exams for the past hundred years and created a comprehensive guide to questions across every subject,” Azul sniffed. “No big deal.”

He looked like he meant it, too. Once again Yuu was reminded of Hermione Granger. She gaped at him unattractively. “Wow…” she breathed. “A hundred years! Senpai, you’re _amazing_. I don’t think anyone can match you in business acumen. How do you do it?”

“Yes, yes, of course I’m amazing. This much isn’t even a big deal,” Azul rolled his eyes, though he’d puffed up a bit. “I guarantee anyone can get a perfect score with these notes. In every subject. How about it, Yuu-san?”

“No _way_ ,” she said vehemently. “If you can be a Dorm Head, run Mostro Lounge, run this business, and create a freaking hundred-year strong set of notes perfectly, then I can at least pass my exams without relying on outside help. I might not be anywhere near as smart or capable as Ashengrotto-senpai, but I don’t want to be an embarrassment as one of your employees.”

“Koebi-chan’s, like…hero-worshiping _Azul_ ,” Floyd stage-whispered.

“Of all people…” Jade chuckled. “Couldn’t you find someone with a personality that’s less…pitch-black to admire?”

“I can hear you,” Azul gave each of them the stink-eye. “What’s wrong with an underclassman actually respecting me for once? Took them long enough to realize.”

“You don’t need to keep praising him,” Floyd told her. “He might puff up so much he’ll burst.”

“Hey, at least he’s better than you,” Yuu shot back mildly. “Leech-senpai told me that you slept through class today.”

“A _ha~_ …wanna get strangled again, stupid little shrimp?”

“Is that all you know how to do?”

“Aren’t they cute?” Jade asked Azul dreamily.

“Yuu-san was right,” Azul’s eye twitched. “Other than me, there aren’t any sane people in this room.”

—

The one downside to Jack’s huge coat was its bulk and size. Yuu’s frequent evening walks were limited to small shuffles since it fell all the way down to her knees. Its warmth was much appreciated, though, so she put up with the slight inconvenience and shuffled out of the warped fence, pushing it squeakily shut behind her.

For Yuu, who tended to coop herself up in the library during exam season, absorbing knowledge non-stop, it was a new and refreshing experience to actively seek out breaks such as these. However, Tsuno-tarou was right—she was getting a little bogged down with schoolwork. Keeping up with classes had been simple at the beginning, but her huge gap of knowledge made it difficult to keep up her marks.

Grim had told her she was looking stressed out—enough so that he willingly gave her backrubs and prompted her to sleep when she hunched over her desk reading. So Yuu figured it would be good to listen to the surprisingly rational Monster and take a break.

Plus, she wanted to talk to Tsuno-tarou again. Being around the tall Diasomnia student was a curious relaxant.

The stars were bright tonight, reminding Yuu with chagrin of the night sky she had watched with Jade. Close to Ramshackle, magic stone-powered lanterns glowed at intervals, offsetting its royal blue.

Once again her thoughts would not leave her alone. Not even when her nightmares had finally begun to settle down did they rest. Even when she had nothing to long for—nothing except for the issue that plagued her since she stepped foot into the Twisted Wonderland.

When was she going to figure out a way back?

_In the end, we’ll be alone._

Yuu wondered if Tsuno-tarou knew the answers she didn’t have the possession of.

She rounded the sloping hill descending from the area her dormitory building was situated in. Though Ramshackle was less than a tenth of the size of every other dormitory she’d seen, its grounds were large even outside of the fence lining its yard. Between the closest building (the Botanical Gardens, followed by the alchemy building) were a smattering of deciduous trees, now completely devoid of leaves.

On her looping way back up the hill, having seen no hide nor hair of Tsuno-tarou, Yuu squinted into the darkness. There was a lump of something underneath one of the trees that had not been present before.

Veering off her path, she neared the tree in question carefully. A slow-moving cloud revealed one stray moonbeam that landed on it, causing her to come screeching to a halt abruptly before breaking into a jog. That lump had _feet_. Was a human collapsed—!?

Jack’s coat was in the way at times like these. Yuu struggled over to the human-shaped figure and sunk to her knees. “Hey, are you okay?!”

No response.

Upon closer inspection, the figure was wearing the belt-heavy green-and-black uniform belonging to Diasomnia, complete with horned military cap. Yuu had never seen Tsuno-tarou in the dorm uniform—since he already had horns, she wondered if the hat would look silly on him. Then again, it was hard to imagine anything looking silly on Tsuno-tarou.

Despite having many more layers than Savanaclaw’s comfortably loose clothing, it couldn’t be healthy to remain lying on the cold ground without a coat. Yuu couldn’t see the stranger’s features in the dark, as they were a good distance from the nearest lamp, so she cautiously put a finger underneath what she thought was their nose to gauge their breathing.

Warm, even exhales. Alive, then. Yuu had never had to deal with the ill, injured or deceased, having been born in a relatively safe wizarding era, so she was greatly relieved this person seemed to be doing nothing more than sleeping.

“Excuse me,” she called out, gently shaking his shoulder. The stranger was strongly built so he barely moved at her pushing. “Are you okay?”

The figure made a sleepy noise. “Hmm.”

So he wasn’t unconscious? “Umm…wake up? You should sleep inside where it’s warm.”

Her persistent shaking paid off only several moments later as the figure shifted in the dark before jerking upright with a gasp. “…Was I…sleeping again?”

“Oh good…” Yuu sighed. “I thought you were in trouble or something.”

“Ah…even though I was in the middle of my guarding duties…” the Diasomnia student muttered to himself before pushing himself upright. Out of the shade of the trees, pale moonlight caught his features and spun them brilliantly into light. His lashes and hair were both an unearthly silver-white, framing well-formed features as he stared down at her.

Yuu recognized him now as the other person who had been present before Leona’s Overblot. This person, Sebek, and Lilia all had a small chance of knowing about her magic.

Unlike Sebek, this person blinked at her slowly as she struggled upright. “…I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before. Have we met?”

She hesitated. Was the right decision here to admit her involvement in the Magift incident, or pretend he was a stranger?

But the student shook his head. “…Thank you for waking me, in any case. I must have been remiss in paying attention to fall asleep now. I can’t face my lord Father like this.”

“Are you sure you’re okay? It’s probably a bad idea to fall asleep outside close to winter,” Yuu squinted up at him. “I live nearby in the Ramshackle dorm. Do you want to stop by and grab something hot to drink? You look like you’re freezing.”

“Oh…” he blinked at her. “I can’t impose on someone I don’t know.”

“My name is Yuu,” she introduced herself. “First Year, Class A. I’m the Directing Student, if you’ve heard about me.”

“Yuu,” the Diasomnia student repeated. “I know of you, though it’s unwise to lend ears to the rumours around this school. My name is Silver. Second Year, Class A. You have my thanks for waking me.”

“Nice to meet you, Silver-senpai,” Yuu bobbed her head in a greeting. Silver, it seemed, didn’t change his facial expressions often; instead, he returned her small bow. “You’re not sick?”

“I’m often told that I space out…” Silver sighed. “Or fall asleep. Don’t worry, Yuu. I’m perfectly healthy apart from this tendency.”

“Narcolepsy?” Yuu murmured. “Shall I walk with you back to where you need to go, senpai? If you don’t know when you’re going to collapse again.”

“It’s not that bad, I’ll manage,” Silver blinked. “…You’d do something like that for a stranger?”

“I was on a walk anyway,” she shrugged. Yuu dug around in her pockets. “…There they are. Here, take these.”

Silver stretched out his gloved hand instinctively as she passed him a small tin. “Mints?”

Yuu had gotten them for Floyd (in case he got angry), but the person in front of her looked like he needed them a lot more. “I hear that these are strong enough to clear your head,” she explained. “If you don’t need me, at least try chewing on one of these? Maybe they’ll keep you awake when you need to be.”

“Yuu,” Silver blinked. “You’re nothing like any of the rumours I’ve heard. …Though I didn’t believe them in the first place.”

“What are rumours about me like?” Yuu asked curiously.

“The Directing Student is weak and fearful,” he recited without changing his expression. “Lied or tricked his way into this school despite not having magic. Seems to have somehow convinced Riddle to be his benefactor. Is trying to cosy up to Kalim because of his money and connections. Has a terrible attitude. …And so forth.”

“Huh…” Yuu gaped. “I didn’t know about the one with Kalim-senpai. No wonder people in Scarabia hate me.”

“You seem to have it rough, too,” Silver commented. He never reacted past a twitch of the brow—this person had the best poker face she’d ever seen. However, unlike many others within the school, Yuu did not sense any overt malice from the mask.

“It’s not so bad,” she grinned at him. “Are you outside on a walk as well, Silver-senpai?”

“I am looking for the one I’m supposed to guard,” Silver nodded. “Don’t worry, Yuu. Now that I’m awake, I can fight off my sleepiness well enough. Thank you for the mints.”

“Don’t mention it,” Yuu waved it off. Sebek had been looking for someone as well…she wondered if they were the same person as Silver’s charge. “Stay warm, senpai. If you get lost, feel free to drop by Ramshackle—that’s where I live—and I can make you hot cocoa or something.”

“Ramshackle…” Silver’s brow twitched briefly. “I won’t get lost. Especially not with a job to complete. Good night, Yuu.”

“Night,” she waved.

Diasomnia really was full of strange characters—few in number, for she barely encountered students with the green-and-black armband, but each one had a personality larger than life. Like Lilia Vanrouge who was much more impressive than his physical size. Tsuno-tarou with his magnificent horns and obsession with ruins. Sebek Zigvolt with his three-hundred-decibel voice. And now Silver who never changed his expression and slept in sub-zero temperatures without batting an eyelash.

One thing was certain of Night Raven College, Yuu mused as she made her way back up to the glowing windows of Ramshackle. Everything—every _one_ —was interesting. From Heartslabyul to Savanaclaw to Octavinelle to Diasomnia, this Wonderland never stopped in provoking her curiosity.

Perhaps they were dangerous—perhaps they were evil. Perhaps she wasn’t meant to be here.

But this world had a hold on her the way magic had ensnared her four years ago.

Yuu burrowed into bed beside Grim and pretended she wasn’t relieved that so far, no way home had been discovered. One day, she would have to depart this world, but it would not be tonight.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
> **Definitions |**
> 
> _harmonie préétablie (予定調和, yoteichouwa)_ | what Jade hates. This principle comes from prolific natural philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz. (It might have a German name too, but I first heard about it in French. Trivia: this guy developed the idea of differential/integral calculus!) Basically, harmonie préétablie (literally translated preestablished harmony) is a theory that “everything under the sun ‘harmonizes’ with each other” even though all objects/substances don’t necessarily “interact” with each other. The Japanese version of this principle, 予定調和 (yoteichouwa), is often reinterpreted to mean ‘things going the exact way one would expect them to’, like in TV shows or books where a predictable plot is followed or a predictable ending is reached. Jade hates predictability and when things aren’t fun or surprising, which is a sort of “mental” version of Floyd’s most hated thing (being tied down). These twins love freedom and fun the most! To Yuu’s dismay.
> 
> _Azul’s speaking style_ | this was also mentioned briefly in recent chapters, but Azul has a very interesting speaking style. Usually he sticks to politeness, often mixing polite speech (丁寧語, teineigo) with respectful speech (尊敬語, sonkeigo) when referring to others. However, as we see in Episode 3, Azul’s natural speech is a LOT rougher and more masculine especially in sentence endings and shows through when he gets emotional. In this chapter, Azul’s polite speech falters a little bit, as it did before when he found Yuu and Floyd fighting in Chapter 14. He seems to get less polite around people he's familiar with.
> 
> _lord Father (親父殿, oyaji-dono)_ | What Silver calls Lilia. He seems to try to correct it most of the time, though. By itself, oyaji (親父) is a masculine and rather informal way to refer to one’s father and can be considered rude or disrespectful; however, this usage with the addition of -dono (殿), a respectful suffix often meaning ‘lord’ or ‘sir’, is more archaic and polite. Also demonstrates some manner of familiarity.
> 
> —
> 
> Hopefully everyone is continuing to do well! I am continuing to drown in schoolwork 👍🏻 But your comments and support are an oasis for my mood. Can you believe we’ve reached NINE HUNDRED kudos and 23,000 views!? You mad lads really did it!!
> 
> In celebration of this milestone (still have a hard time believing it), I have a bit of a special announcement.
> 
>   * First, the next update will be on February 24th which is Azul’s birthday!
>   * Second, February 14th (Valentine’s Day) marks the 5-month anniversary of this story’s posting! (If older readers remember, it was posted in celebration of Scarabia’s CM coming out, which was September 14th in most of the Western hemisphere.) 
>   * Which means there might be “something” prepared on February 14th…? Please look forward to it! 
> 

> 
> As always, I am looking forward to your comments below very much. Please let me know what you thought! Or just comment anything you like!! Thank you for your support.
> 
> —


	17. Calm Before the Storm.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As December’s term exams loom on the horizon, Yuu begins to study more seriously. If only her friends would do the same…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
> Happy birthday, Azul 🐙! Wishing you good fortune in the year ahead, both in Madols and in life.
> 
> —

—

“Are you _sure_ this is a good idea?”

“This is like…the third time you’ve asked in the past half hour.” Ruggie shot her an irritated glance. “I’m coming along whether you like it or not, Yuu-kun. Or are you okay with skipping a shift?”

Yuu hummed uneasily and shut Ramshackle’s creaky door behind her. It was relatively warm outside today, so she’d discarded Jack’s huge coat on the coat hanger after school. Immediately she regretted it as a knife of wind drove through the fabric of her uniform blazer.

“C’mon,” Ruggie prompted at her shiver, sticking out his hand. “I’m not a patient guy.”

“I refuse to take responsibility for anything that happens,” she sighed, taking it reluctantly.

Whether or not Leona had a hand in ordering him to do so, Ruggie was adamant on ‘checking’ on Yuu’s involvement within Mostro Lounge. Not only did neither of them trust her when she insisted there was nothing wrong, Leona himself expressed his regret at not keeping a closer eye on her, the knowledge that she’d been working here for so long sitting ill in his expression.

“I don’t think Ashengrotto-senpai’s gonna be happy if you suddenly show up out of nowhere,” Yuu tried again as they made their way down the concrete staircase leading out of Ramshackle’s yard. Another burst of wind made her hiss and duck behind his shoulder for protection.

“Leave that part to me. I’m acquainted with him,” Ruggie said dismissively, apparently unaffected by the weather. “I told you my hobby is finding part-time work, right? When things get tough, I dive into the Lounge for a coupla days to make up the difference.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t put in any contact with him ahead of time,” Yuu wrinkled her nose. Azul didn’t like it when things didn’t follow his expectations, unlike Jade. “Also, you and Leona-senpai overreact so much. It’s just a job.”

“It’s different when you’re pretty much a regular part-timer, unlike me,” Ruggie said grimly. “Once or twice a month at most might be ignorable, but from what you said, he’s using you pretty hard. I don’t trust that guy at all. …This is all your fault for using that scent bottle. That stuff’s too effective. I couldn’t smell the Lounge on you at all.”

Yuu wondered briefly why Grim seemed immune to the effects of the perfume and then shrugged it off. Maybe it was a Therianthrope thing. “Personally, I’m _glad_ it works so well. Since I didn’t have you fussing over me like a mom all the time.”

Riddle was one thing—even after the Overblot, he had not lost the desire for ‘everything to go according to his wishes’—and the way he ordered her around so matter-of-factly felt less like a parent and more like a ruler. On the other hand, Ruggie tended to lecture her for not eating vegetables or allowing her hair to grow too long, made her food without asking, and stuck to her more and more often when he wasn’t in the middle of an errand for Leona.

“You need someone to care about you since you don’t do enough of it yourself,” he shot back now, having gotten so used to the ‘mom’ comment he no longer complained about it. “And I frankly think I’m the best one for the job.”

“Leona-senpai’s paying you, isn’t he?”

“ _Shi shi shi_. Obviously. Doesn’t mean I’m not serious about it.”

“The two of you are so weird,” Yuu rolled her eyes, swinging their joined hands back and forth as she adjusted to the cold. “I’m fine. Haven’t you seen me fight?”

“I don’t care if you’re the most powerful wizard or whatever-that-is in the world,” Ruggie checked her in the side affectionately. “The consequences of making people like you so much means we worry about you. Got it?”

Yuu made an embarrassed noise, caught off guard. “…Not used to that,” she managed weakly.

“Really? With Heartslabyul?” he asked sceptically. “They frickin’ love you and none of them even know your gender.”

“Rosehearts-senpai is doing it mostly for his own sense of self-satisfaction,” Yuu explained, “though I like him a lot too. And Ace and Deuce do more picking on me than taking _care_ of me. It’s just…for someone like you, Ruggie-senpai, who’s so benefits-oriented…that you actively do stuff for _me_ is kind of…embarrassing…”

“Yuu-kun, are you _blushing_?” Ruggie gaped, peering down into her face.

“I’m not used to this whole friends thing! Stop staring at me!” Yuu pushed at his face.

“…You should stop reacting like that,” Ruggie commented weakly, letting her. “We’re gonna have a hard time peeling the other kids you tamed off of you.”

“I don’t usually do this,” Yuu snapped, cooling her cheeks with her free hand as he rummaged in his pockets. “I’m not used to the whole emotions thing either. Give me a second—are you _taking a video?!_ ”

—

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN | Calm Before the Storm.**

—

Ruggie found it hilarious that Yuu, according to him, was getting in touch with her ‘long-lost _feelings_ ’. “How does it feel, being bested by a hyena? _Shi shi shi._ ”

“Stop with that lower caste higher caste garbage,” Yuu rolled her eyes. “I’m a Half-blood, remember? Plus, hyenas are cute.”

“Only _you’d_ say something like that.” Ruggie didn’t seem very impressed at being called ‘cute’.

They made their way slowly up towards Octavinelle’s yawning entrance. Yuu had long since gotten used to hopping from chunk to chunk of the purple coral walkways, but Ruggie insisted on supporting her as she jumped. He himself was probably the most agile person in the entire school, making leaps she never would have reached. “I really don’t know why you picked a place like _this_ to work,” he muttered, lifting her up beside him like a child.

“It was really my only option,” Yuu grabbed his arms as she wobbled. “And I told you. It’s not so bad here. I was expecting unpaid overtime.”

“…Your standards are too low. Careful, that ledge is slippery.”

Yuu was still unsure whether this had to do with her gender, but recently Ruggie had been fussing over her more and more. Whether it was feeding her his admittedly delicious meals alongside Leona (and sometimes Jack) or insisting on watching as she and Leona put their heads together to research magic, the hyena Therianthrope seemed to be under the impression that she needed a guardian.

She’d protested it at first—Leona himself had given Ruggie a weird look and called him ‘gross’. However, despite the rule of respect afforded women in the Afterglow Savannah, the hyena Therianthrope appeared to compare her to one of his slums’ children instead—the ones he took care of and told her stories about all the time.

Though she put a stop to it when it went a little too far, Yuu herself had never had someone ‘take care’ of her and never had a friend looking out for her this actively before, so she couldn’t find a reason strong enough to really refuse him. Even now, Ruggie might have been coming to Mostro Lounge on Leona’s orders, but _she_ was the reason.

Someone cared. _Ruggie_ cared. Yuu’s mood bubbled upwards.

“What are your favourite sweets?” she asked as they ducked into the doorway and back out the side path leading down to Mostro Lounge’s fishbone building.

“Doughnuts. Why?” Ruggie’s ears were flicking back and forth as he glanced around him warily.

“Okay. I’ll make you doughnuts next time,” Yuu decided. “Though I have to look up a recipe first. Maybe Ace’ll borrow me his phone…Or Trey-senpai, he’d know.”

“What’s this all of a sudden?” He blinked down at her in amused surprise. “Trying to get me to delete that video of your red face?”

“Do that anyway!” Yuu glared at him. “…But you came all the way here for me.”

“Didn’t you not want me to?”

“But you’re still doing it for _me_ ,” she sighed. “So I obviously owe you. Right?”

“ _Shi shi shi_. I like that part of you that balances things properly on a scale. Wouldn’t want ya to think I didn’t want anything in return.” Ruggie narrowed his big blue-grey eyes at her and winked. “Next time you come over to Savana, bring them with you. Crispy outsides are the best.”

They’d arrived earlier than Yuu’s allotted shift time; currently, club activities were still proceeding out in the fields and across the castle. Mostro Lounge was mostly empty. Ruggie loped easily across the hall and towards Azul’s VIP Room, waving off her concerns, so Yuu paced back and forth nervously for a moment before giving up and making her way into the breakroom’s washroom to change early.

Neither Jade nor Floyd were on shift that night, according to the schedule, which was unusual. Yuu made her way into the kitchen, tying her downsized apron over the uniform sloppily. The early afternoon shifters had taken their places and were chattering among themselves—at her entrance, Yuu was faced with four pairs of eyes that turned towards her at once.

“Uh…good afternoon?” she blinked, freezing in the doorway. “What? Did I do something wrong again?”

The tallest student shut off the fire on the stove and hurried over to her. “The kid’s _alive_!”

“Wait, you can’t be sure,” the student with the quiet voice put out a hand to stop him. “Maybe he’s just an illusion. A spell. And you don’t know he isn’t injured under the uniform.”

“ _What_?” Yuu squinted at him. “Are you guys drunk or something? Last time someone stole alcohol out the bar they got fired, you know.”

“Is it you? The kid who Floyd calls li’l shrimp?” an unfamiliar, stockily built student glanced back down to the mixing bowl he was piling vegetables in. “I don’t get it. He doesn’t look like much, let alone crazy enough to get Ashengrotto on his case.”

“Exactly. You don’t _get_ it,” the usual dishwasher piped up from behind his mountain of bubbles. “He _looks_ completely normal and kinda unimpressive, but I heard he and that Savanaclaw Dorm Head are in cahoots! And you shoulda seen when the two Leech brothers were terrorizing him during last shift. This kid didn’t even faint out of terror.”

“Maybe he was passed out standing up.”

“Whatever,” the tall student waved both hands impatiently. “He’s still _alive_. I didn’t see hide nor hair of the unlucky kid after Ashengrotto dragged them away! How’d you do it?”

“What am I missing here?” Yuu asked the quiet one. Usually he was the regular possessing the most common sense.

“Floyd Leech has been messing with you ever since you got hired, yeah?” he responded obligingly. “And apparently Jade too, this past week. They’ve been frankly too scary to look in the eye.”

“Those senpai haven’t exactly been shy about it,” Yuu rolled her eyes. “Is that why you all refused to talk to me for a week?”

“Hey, man…we don’t play with sharks,” the tall one patted her roughly on the back. “We ain’t suicidal, though you’re a pretty pitiful kid. None of us were expecting you to come back today, though.”

“Why? Me and those two senpai figured it out, mostly,” Yuu blinked. “We’re all good now.”

“Figured it _out_? I thought you were marked for ejection!” the dishwasher spluttered.

“Ejection? I mean, I fought with Strangler-senpai—”

“ _Strangler-senpai_ ,” the stocky student choked, putting his knife down.

“—and nearly got killed by Leech-senpai, but after that they decided to be friendly.”

“Friendly…?” the quiet one frowned. “So they were actually in a good mood and not trying to force you to quit back then?”

“We’re through that already,” Yuu shook her head. “What, you thought I died?”

“Or at least…got expelled or something,” the tallest student leaned against a counter as Yuu scanned the night’s drink menu, which she was responsible for. “I’ve never seen anyone get dragged into Azul’s VIP Room like that and then come out without pissing their pants. Or in a body bag.”

“Dude, gross,” Yuu wrinkled her nose at him.

“Aw, don’t be such a prissy boy.”

“I go in there all the time, you know? I have my weekly balance statements printed out.”

“That’s different. He was _angry_ last time. Ashengrotto’s scarier than anyone in the school when he gets pissed,” the quiet one shook his head. “We were watching when the twins sandwiched you between them during break last time before they nearly squeezed you to _death_. And then Ashengrotto came out and he looked like he was going to lose control of his human form right there. So none of us expected you to survive.”

“Lose control of his human form,” Yuu repeated with a blink.

“I forget you’re a human sometimes,” the tall one muttered. “Okay, kid, since none of us did anything for almost two months while you were going through that shit with the twins, I’ll at least dredge up some of Octavinelle’s merciful spirit and tell you.”

“Really? To this plain-looking kid?” the stocky one squinted in her direction. “I don’t even know how he survived this long. Why are you suddenly being nice to this runt?”

“What, you wanna pick on him too? Like the rest of the school?”

“I didn’t say _that_ ,” he put up both hands. “Just don’t know why you guys are being so _merciful_ to him when he’s a human that can’t use magic.”

“Get with the times,” the quiet one rolled his eyes. “Only people from the last century and idiots bully people who have no magic. Technology’s already catching up fast anyway.”

“You sound like an Ignihyde,” the stocky one made a face. “Okay, whatever. I don’t care either way. And I’ve heard enough stuff about how he’s managed to both piss off and then somehow make friends with two Dorm Heads, so it’s probably short-sighted to dismiss him right away.”

Yuu, who was unboxing cans of soda, listened to them with interest. “You guys are so much smarter than Savanaclaw’s students,” she commented, impressed. “Those guys just started punching me and stuff.”

“Don’t compare us with those _Therianthropes_ ,” the dishwasher spat. “We actually have brains, thanks.”

“Everyone here has brains, else they’d have flunked out by now,” the stocky one rolled his eyes. “And no one here would do something as stupid as punching the student admitted to this school by the Headmaster himself.”

“Didn’t stop Savanaclaw,” she muttered, starting to shove the cans in ice.

“They’re…special.”

Everyone laughed.

Yuu could not help agreeing. She liked the ‘indomitable dorm’ quite a bit, but none of them were people she would normally seek companionship with. At least—not before she came to this school.

“So anyway,” the tall one returned to his stove, “Even you should know we’re all Mermen…more or less, anyway. And that we aren’t exactly in this two-legged form normally.”

“Ashengrotto-senpai mentioned that,” Yuu nodded.

“Okay. The potion turning us ‘human’ works almost universally well for everyone. But like you learned in middle school…wait, never mind, you’re non-magical.” The tall one grimaced. “Anyway, magic depends a lot on someone’s mental and emotional state, so rarely, newly ‘human’ Mermen or really depressed or pissed off Mermen can react badly to the potion or just completely overturn its effects…at least for a time. Sometimes they even wind up needing another dose of potion to turn back.”

“You guys must’ve had it tough learning to walk in the first place,” Yuu observed, opening another box of soda. “What, do mentally unstable Mermen just sprout fins or something?”

“It doesn’t happen often. Though most of us have a lot of trouble getting used to Land…to standing on two feet, only the ones with really high magical power capacity are susceptible to breaking through a potion, whether it’s on purpose or not,” the quiet one put in. “I’m a Bluejaw triggerfish, and we tend to live near coral reefs, so I was sort of used to having support underneath me already. Walking’s no problem. But some other kids…Jade had a lot of trouble last year.”

“Really? I would’ve loved to see that,” Yuu said eagerly.

“No you wouldn’t,” dishwasher shuddered. “Everyone around him always suffered for it.”

“Bigger ones tend to have it the hardest,” explained the tall one. “Like me. I’m a Brown-banded Bamboo Shark. We hate flying the _most_. It just ain’t natural for fish to fly.”

Yuu grimaced in sympathy. “…And everyone else?”

“Arc-eye hawkfish,” the dishwasher called over. “You still don’t know our names, so at least call us something.”

“I will when you call _me_ Yuu,” she said cheekily.

“No way. You make too many puns with that, Directing Student.”

The tall one—Brown-banded bamboo shark, he was called—was staring pointedly at the less friendly stocky student. “You next.”

“Who cares what I am? Why do I have to tell ‘im?” he gave her an unfriendly stare. “’S not like I’m _full_ of mercy like you.”

“I’ll help you finish arranging the veggie dishes in return,” Yuu volunteered. “I used to be in the fine arts club. How about it?”

“…Is he good?” Stocky student looked at Bamboo Shark questioningly.

“The only reason he’s _here_ still is ‘cause he’s good,” Bamboo Shark said exasperatedly. “The kid’s smart enough to survive in the Lounge. Really. Otherwise we’d’ve watched him get swallowed up a long time ago.”

“…Thornback ray,” he grunted. “I’m counting on you for the vegetables. The carrots need to be cut into star-shapes.”

Yuu didn’t see Ruggie again until the beginning of rush hour, when she was finishing up the last preparations for dishes. She was slated to move into her role ferrying food back and forth between the kitchen and the bar that evening, to everyone’s apparent joy. The self-named Thornback Ray had looked upon her with suspicion—no doubt hearing all of the rumours floating around concerning the new Directing Student—but by the time she had finished preparing all of the non-alcoholic drinks and started helping him out with laying out lettuce, the sceptical glare was gone.

“Told you,” Bamboo Shark smirked.

“Shut up. How was I supposed to know? Everyone hates him.”

“I’m right here, you know,” Yuu said dryly. “Honestly it feels kind of weird that a whole school’s talking about me and I have no idea what they’re saying.”

“You’re smart, but you have no social awareness,” the quiet student—also known as Bluejaw Triggerfish—commented. “You should fix that. People will think you’re a bubble-head.”

“If I cared what people thought of me, I wouldn’t be in here,” Yuu told him matter-of-factly.

“Hey kid!” Arc-eye Hawkfish called back. He’d moved to the stove once the mountain of dishes had disappeared. “What’s the breaded prawn dish for?”

“Table three, comes with tuna salad and cola,” Yuu replied without stopping. “Okay, this one’s done. Pass me the next one please.”

“In a school like this, being so socially unaware is gonna get you in trouble,” Thornback commented, passing her the plate and watching her arrange it bemusedly. “Oh wait. You already got in trouble.”

“Very funny, senpai,” Yuu rolled her eyes. “Orders are probably going to start pouring in around now. After I finish these last three, I’m going to start running back and forth delivering dishes if you guys are okay back here.”

“I’ve been working here for a year longer than you, small fish,” Thornback grunted. “Just ‘cause you might be sort of good at this memory and fine-play stuff doesn’t mean I need you around. Shoo.”

“Oh good…Directing Student, you’re taking point for deliveries?” Bluejaw sighed in relief. “Last time there was another student—a goby—who took over when you didn’t have a shift and he made like four mistakes.”

“That’s pretty good,” Yuu frowned. “Like a ninety-eight percent success rate.”

“Not compared to you,” Arc-eye snorted. “The quietly scary Leech was breathing down his neck the whole time. ‘Mister Directing Student would do _this_ ,’” he imitated in Jade’s overly polite voice.

Thornback made a face. “This kid’s _that_ good? I don’t believe it.”

“It’s the first time Ashengrotto’s hired someone out of dorm for more than a day or two of help at a time. What d’you think?”

“Hey,” Bluejaw nudged him. “If Directing Student doesn’t make a single mistake tonight, you make leftovers for the rest of us. You’re good at that.”

“What? Why do I have to?”

“’Cause you doubtin’,” Arc-eye snickered. “And if the kid does mess up, _he_ makes the leftovers.”

“I’ve never done that before,” Yuu blinked, finishing up her last plate. “Or eaten any, for that matter. You guys use the leftover ingredients and eat them?”

“How else are we gonna sate our bellies?” Bamboo Shark patted his thin stomach. “We can eat your weight in food every day, kid. Whaddaya say? Up for it?”

“Sure, leave it to me, I guess,” she shrugged. “Here’s the last one. I don’t think I’m gonna make a mistake unless things get really bad, but may the best one win?”

“I get to eat this ray-fish’s cooking for the first time in a while!” Bamboo Shark cheered.

“Hey! It’s not set in stone yet!”

Yuu shed her apron and straightened her clothing as she caught the eyes of the waiters on duty, poking her head out of the doorway over to the bar. “How’s it going out there?”

“We got our pinch hitter coming,” one of them commented with a grin as the other headed out to welcome a new table. Yuu recognized this person as the usual waiter who liked to mess up her hair. “So it’s not so bad. Are you our runner today, kid?”

“Sure am. Please treat me well, senpai.”

“It’s _you_ who I’m depending on. Oh, look, here he comes now.”

Stepping out into the darkened Lounge hall, where the jazz music was beginning to lose its sound under the swell of entering students, Yuu peered in the direction he indicated and nearly bumped into Ruggie.

“Whoa!” he stopped narrowly. “Watch where you’re—Yuu-kun, it’s you! …How’s it goin’ in there?”

Ruggie glanced over her head into the kitchens, eyes going cold briefly, but the expression was gone so fast she thought it might have been an illusion.

“Hey, Ruggie-senpai,” Yuu blinked. “You’re the pinch hitter?”

“ _Shi shi._ Sure am. Told you I was familiar with this place. Why are you in Octa’s uniform?”

“Octa’s…this is Mostro Lounge’s uniform, though.” Yuu glanced at the waiter for help.

“You sure have connections everywhere, huh?” the waiter grinned between her and Ruggie. “Guess it wasn’t just a rumour that you had one foot in Savana. And Mostro Lounge’s uniform originally comes from Octa’s uniform, ya know. Though since you’re not a dorm student we can’t give you the hat and stole.”

“ _I_ don’t have to wear the uniform parts,” Ruggie frowned, tugging at his white school uniform shirt. He’d only shed the jacket.

“That’s ‘cause you’re just a part-timer, and Directing Student here’s one of the regulars. Now look alive, they’re coming. Monday night’s always the toughest, since we get all the people slacking off after the weekend.”

Yuu knew how Mondays could get, so she rolled her shoulders. “Okay. Ruggie-senpai, I’m the ferry—I’ll take all the orders you guys get and make sure the right items get sent out.”

“You?” Ruggie said doubtfully. “But you’re so tiny. You sure you don’t wanna stay in the kitchen?”

“ _Pfft!_ Bucchi, I thought you knew Directing Student,” the waiter laughed. “This kid’s our star during rush hours. Never seen him get an order wrong.”

“I have! Three times!” Yuu protested.

“Three times out of over like ten million orders is no small feat.”

“Yuu-kun?” Ruggie echoed. “Your _star?_ ”

Yuu rolled her eyes at the waiter but grinned at Ruggie mischievously. “You wanted to see me pull my weight, right, Ruggie-senpai? Wanted to make sure I was going to be fine here? Then please watch closely.”

—

“Of all the people I expected to come into my office asking if I’d harmed you, Ruggie Bucchi was not one of them,” Azul commented after close as Yuu perched on her customary spot atop the arm of the couch, watching him crunch numbers as she digested Thornback’s seafood stir-fry he’d made with the leftovers.

“Ruggie-senpai?” Yuu repeated sleepily, comfortably full. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Few people—Therianthrope or human alike—are as cold and calculating as that one,” Azul glanced up at her. “Though I’m sure you haven’t missed that detail.”

“Oh, that. He didn’t like me much at first, but we got over it,” she explained.

“This has to do with the Overblot rumour, does it not?” he asked, but Azul looked like he knew the answer already.

“We’re _friends_ ,” Yuu avoided his question. “Ruggie-senpai’s really smart and I really like him.”

“You’ve got connections in Savanaclaw,” Azul restated for her, waving his staff so that light gleamed against its steel-carved octopus and the transparent magic stone embedded in its grip. A printed sheet of paper unfurled from one of the bookshelves that sandwiched the huge vault gleaming behind his head, floating onto the table. “I, of course, will welcome any and all helpers during this busy time, so do continue making these _connections_. I’m counting on you to turn me a profit.”

“Yes, boss,” she saluted him. “As long as you prevent those twins from accidentally crushing me one day.”

“Accidentally…” Azul made a funny expression. “Well, at least they’ve stopped doing it on purpose.”

“It doesn’t make much of a difference when I am a weak human,” Yuu told him, unimpressed. “Dorm Head, you’re the only one that can control them. You wouldn’t let your _pitiful_ underclassman and employee lose their working limbs, would you?”

“Stop batting your eyes at me, no one can see them behind that mop of hair. As long as you don’t provoke them—” Azul stopped himself. “Never mind. At least try to stay within my line of vision when those two are around, then.”

“As expected of the reliable Dorm Head of Octavinelle,” Yuu said in relief. “I can’t imagine how you deal with them all day.”

“Please, it’s far easier than dealing with Savanaclaw,” Azul gave her a pointed glance. “As you have done.”

“I’m going to have to disagree there. Plus, those two twins just love you to death. Though to be honest, I was kind of surprised that everyone is so leery of you guys,” Yuu crossed her legs and cocked her head questioningly at him. “I mean, all of the Dorm Heads I’ve met so far are sort of scary—”

“How _shocking_ ,” Azul gasped exaggeratedly.

“—But from the way Rosehearts-senpai, Ruggie-senpai and Leona-senpai reacted, you’d have thought Octavinelle was the home of a dragon or something.”

“For some indecipherable reason,” he put up both gloves in a shrug, “People are _so_ suspicious of me. When I’m this helpful! Isn’t it a tragedy?”

According to Azul, Ruggie had all but threatened him that harming or otherwise inconveniencing Yuu would bring calamity down on his head, whether it was through Headmaster Crowley or directly through Savanaclaw’s students. Azul didn’t display his surprise now, but there was a bemused kind of consideration in the way he had stared at her that evening when she entered the VIP Room that suggested he had not been expecting such a reaction from someone as ‘cold’ as Ruggie.

“I still can’t believe that the dormitory of _mercy_ is seen in such a warped way to others,” Azul drew his brows together in mock grief. “Why on earth would they think so?”

“I think it’s like fifty percent your fault,” Yuu commented. “I like you, Ashengrotto-senpai, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to trust you. Ruggie-senpai’s probably right.”

“And the other fifty percent?” Azul humoured her.

“Your ‘henchmen,’” she quipped with a grin. “The other staff today acted like they’re the harbingers of the apocalypse.”

“They’re not my—oh, whatever. Come over here and get your invoice statement already.”

Whatever people said about Mostro Lounge or Azul, he paid her fairly and never found excuses to harass his employees. (Trying to convince them to make obviously unfavourable deals was another matter.) Yuu was stacking up a nice blanket of savings in the checking account he’d opened for her—Azul seemed to have much more experience in these matters, and since she had been able to withdraw money without trouble, Yuu decided he wasn’t there to cheat her out of her money right away. Once again, when Yuu was done deciding something, that was the end of it.

“I’ve never seen this much money,” she commented, scanning her earnings and tucking the paper away in her schoolbag. “Grim’s daily tuna can barely puts a dent in it.”

“To be impressed with that _drop_ of funds…how pitiful of you,” Azul looked down the bridge of his nose at her. “And the hundred million-Madol chandelier you broke on the first day of school surely outnumbered this by an order of magnitude.”

“That was Deuce—my friend, not me,” Yuu argued half-heartedly as he pulled out a stack of yellow parchment. “Not everyone’s used to handling billions of Madols like you, senpai—are you _still_ writing contracts? How many has this been, five hundred?”

“Almost three hundred,” Azul ignored her with practiced ease, starting on the first sheet. “And if you must know, I keep running out, so it’s necessary to keep writing them.”

“I don’t know how easy it is for Mermen to get sick, but I think you should take it easy a little,” Yuu pushed herself back up onto her seat. “Do you want some tea? I’m not a pro like Leech-senpai, but even I can steep leaves normally.”

“…What do you want from me?” Azul squinted suspiciously.

Right. He was this kind of person. Sometimes Azul and Ruggie thought on the exact same wavelength. “…I want you to…uh…tell me how you got so good at mental multiplication?” Yuu tried. “Also if I make you tea, I get to drink it too.”

It was a testament to how familiar both parties had gotten with each other that Azul merely exhaled dismissively through his nose and waved her off to the kitchens.

NRC’s students were a sight more diligent than Hogwarts’ bunch of lively children, though perhaps the older demographic was the reason. Mostro Lounge had once again limited hours at night to give the staff and students time to study as exams loomed in a little more than two weeks.

Yuu’s hobby could be called studying anyway, and it wasn’t like her grades counted as a student’s—so while Grim, Ace and Deuce fooled around and others doubled down on their textbooks, she volunteered to close the Lounge at night if the pay was good.

Mostro Lounge at night was picturesque in its emptiness, glass wall gleaming with bioluminescent plant matter underneath the vast blue blanket fading into black. Yuu had long since gotten used to the wonder of working in such an environment—though her inner arts club member always lingered on the details—so without much delay, she boiled water in the darkened kitchens and prepared a steaming pot of black tea on a tray before setting it on a cart. Unlike Jade, Yuu wasn’t confident enough in her balance to carry it all the way to the VIP Room without spilling something and incurring a debt on her head.

Azul was fond of tea—at least, the tea Jade prepared. Yuu suspected that Jade had gotten good at brewing it mostly because of the Dorm Head, though he only called it his ‘special skill’. Much more than Yuu, Azul was picky with taste and rather spoiled; her own offering was met with a comparatively derisive wrinkle of the brow. This person had no idea how much easier Jade and Floyd made his life.

“Barely passing,” he graded after a single sip. “Drain the leaves out faster next time.”

“I’m not your cook,” Yuu remarked dryly over her own steaming cup. “So why are you so good at calculating numbers?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Azul indicated the room around him as if to show her the splendour. “When one is doing something for years and years, they tend to pick up some tricks.”

“Years and years?” Yuu echoed curiously. “Did you own a business before coming to NRC?”

“Our family owns a restaurant in the Coral Sea,” Azul muttered absently as he wrote. “What’s so interesting about me that you’re sacrificing study time to ask me foolish questions?”

“I study all the time,” Yuu shrugged, “and will do some more when I get home. You also look kind of worn out lately. Plus, I told you, I like observing people.”

“You like to observe me tiring myself out?” Azul peered up at her incredulously.

“Why do you always take things the wrong way? I’m not a bully,” Yuu rolled her eyes exasperatedly. “Senpai, I told you I used to be part of the arts club at my school, right?”

“That has nothing to do with me.”

“You’re pretty,” Yuu shrugged, “and fun to observe. And interesting. It’s a triple combo.”

“…Yuu-san,” Azul rubbed his forehead wearily, “Stop calling me pretty. It’s not a compliment.”

“But it is,” she protested. “This school is _full_ of pretty people and you’re still way up there.” Apart from Professor Crewel, the Pomefiore Dorm Head, and Jamil, Azul’s mature beauty was enough to guarantee him a crowd of fans had this school been open to both genders.

“I only take care of my appearance so I’m not underestimated by others. Are you sure your opinion of beauty isn’t as twisted as the rest of your brain? To call me or Floyd _pretty_ of all things…”

“You know, for someone who’s so proud of themselves, you sure have a low opinion of yourself,” Yuu commented with a frown. It was Leona’s low confidence all over again—though in his case, Leona was aware of his own talent but unable to overcome the low opinions of others. Azul seemed oblivious that he was doing amazing things in the first place.

“What are you talking about? I’ve made sure I’m not letting any weaknesses show,” Azul set aside one contract and pulled over a second.

“…Okay,” Yuu stopped herself before she went any further. She’d been angry enough to argue with Leona about his unreasonable low estimate of others’ opinions towards him, but Azul was busy right now and hid himself too well. It wasn’t her place to butt her head in where she didn’t belong. “So…how do you multiply big numbers?”

“Just cross-multiply. In your head,” Azul set aside a second sheet, reaching for his tea. “Once you know your times tables up to twelve it’s not hard. Pour me another cup, please.”

“I can multiply up to the thousands, probably, but don’t think I’ll ever be able to do the millions that you do,” Yuu said weakly, hopping up to do his bidding.

“It’s not that different. Madols are usually big, so knocking off two zeros won’t make a difference. And try separating the numbers into tens. Thank you.”

“No problem…you’re right,” Yuu counted on her fingers. “I’ll try that in Magical Analysis tomorrow. I think I could make it work.”

Azul shot her a smug look. “Well? Have you understood how outstanding I am…at least a little?”

It was hard to imagine Azul being insecure when he acted like this. “Okay, O Mighty Octavinelle Dorm Head,” Yuu rolled her eyes, grinning back. “You are _so_ cool. No wonder everyone wants your notes. All hail Ashengrotto-senpai.”

“If you’re going to mock me, then get out,” Azul shooed her absently with a hand. “Or study where you are, at least. Someone like you needs every last drop of knowledge they can get if you wander so foolishly around this den of sharks.”

“I can?” Yuu blinked. “Okay. Ashengrotto-senpai, what about you? Don’t you review schoolwork? I only ever see you handling contracts and earnings here.”

“What do you think I am? Of course I study,” Azul shot her a disgusted look. “Effort is the shortest road to excellence.”

Leona never studied, Yuu thought, and he seemed to know the answer all the time. “…Right. Effort.”

“What’s with that expression? You don’t believe in studying?”

“Huh? No, of course I do. It’s just…a lot of people don’t seem to,” Yuu shrugged, “They don’t have the will or determination that you do. Though none of the determination in the world is going to get me on a broom of my own accord.”

“ _Ugh_ ,” Azul emitted gutturally, setting down his fifth or sixth contract, “please don’t get me started on that hellish trial. Even without Professor Crowley diving into class and breathing down my neck, it’s enough to make one wish they’d never climbed up onto Land…though of course, it’s not within me to give up.”

“You hate flying too?” Yuu, who had seized the opportunity to pull out her magical history textbook, blinked owlishly over at him. “I thought you were perfect in every subject. The kitchen guys seem to think so.”

“…Of course I’m perfect,” Azul glared at her. “…Flying is merely a temporary roadblock. With enough practice, I’ll master it in no time.”

“If you say so,” Yuu squinted doubtfully at him. “Once you succeed, please tell me how you did it, senpai. I’m sure Leech-senpai told you after he hung me from the cliff that I have an unduly strong fear of heights, but after riding along with people who _stand up_ on their brooms I’m starting to think it’s a lost cause for me.”

“People without magic such as you should just stand with both feet planted on the ground,” Azul advised her, straightening his glasses with a cough. “Perhaps if you had been blessed with magic, practicing your flying skills would yield some dividends, but as it is, why don’t you try working on something you _can_ control?”

“You seem so sure I have terrible marks,” Yuu said with a bemused smile.

“With the way you behave in here, it’s a given.”

“Just because I feel little inclination to abide by your societal rules doesn’t mean I’m a fool,” she rolled her eyes. “Different world, remember? And I’ve never fit in before, so it seems a little late to try.”

“Another cup, please.”

Yuu put her book down to retrieve his empty teacup. “You’re so used to Leech-senpai waiting on you hand and foot,” she teased him, “I’m not your server, senpai.”

“You’re using my room for studying,” Azul sniffed. “The least you could do is show some sincerity. Or would you like to make a deal for better notes?”

“Not that again,” Yuu groaned. “So maybe I want to _see_ them because I think it’s amazing you managed to do that…but I don’t need notes. How many pages are they, anyway?”

“With the attention span of most of the foolish students here, how long do you _think_ I’d make it?” Azul sniffed. “One sheet per subject. Any more and it’s not effective.”

“Seriously, what’s the motivation behind you doing all this?” Yuu muttered to herself. “That must have taken some serious thinking.”

“I told you,” Azul smiled alluringly over his cup of steaming tea. “You’ll find out soon enough. With the kindness of my heart, I’ve even prepared front row seats for you, Yuu-san. Do look forward to the week after exams.”

—

Despite encouraging Ace and Deuce to study, Yuu could not detect the slightest desire or pressure coming from her best friends to follow her own enthusiasm. Grim himself had been muttering about acing the exams and sleeping at strange hours, displaying what seemed to be an unprecedented motivation to be a ‘good student’, but Ace usually distracted her with whatever new game or show he was hooked on and Deuce got swept along far too easily. The latter did come to her more and more often for help on his homework (especially history), but it was almost a given that they’d become distracted halfway through any study sessions and start talking about unrelated topics.

“You should be more like Grim,” Yuu poked Ace with a socked toe, glancing over from her textbook she was reviewing. Then she made a face as the Monster sleeping on her lap burrowed his face into her stomach. “I never thought I’d say that.”

“I’m the kind of person who waits ‘til three days before the exams and then crams everything by pulling all-nighters,” Ace didn’t bother looking up from his phone. “And the one who should be worrying is the kid who sucks so hard at strength building that Vargas kept you behind at lunch three times this month.”

“Everyone has things they’re bad at,” Yuu whined. “I’m not gonna stay up with you when you cram, just so you know.”

“Aww, c’mon, old buddy, old pal. What are friends for?”

“Not using to their own ends?” Yuu peered over to where he was lounging. “What’re you looking at now?”

“You gotta see this,” Ace turned his phone to show her.

Deuce jerked awake with a start as the two of them burst into snickers. “What’d I miss?” he said sleepily.

“I thought you were a morning person,” Yuu rotated her shoulder as he finally lifted his head from it. “And your head is so heavy, dude.”

“Being a morning person means I’m not a night person,” Deuce said sheepishly. “At least I’m not Jack, okay? When did you say he slept?”

“ _Ten PM_ ,” Yuu said solemnly.

“Is he a baby?” Ace deadpanned.

“You call everyone a baby,” Yuu and Deuce retorted simultaneously.

“Can the three of you shut up and go to sleep already?” Grim’s voice was an irritated mumble muffled by the material of Yuu’s Deuce-given sweater. “Why the hell do you always stay up so late fooling around? It’s past midnight! Stupid humans.”

“Sorry,” Yuu patted his head in apology. “Maybe we should call it a night.”

“Yuu is always nicer to Grim,” Deuce commented wryly. “Okay. I’m pretty done for today, anyway.”

“You’re always the last one of us asleep,” Ace squinted at her from the foot of Ramshackle’s king-sized bed, putting his phone down as Deuce climbed under the covers and dislodged Yuu from the top of the comforter. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Right, listen to this. Jack came in my room at _five-thirty_ this morning,” Yuu put Grim on her pillow and flipped back the covers for him, leaving Ace to sigh and reluctantly squeeze in on her other side. “And he hauled me around campus for an hour! Do you know how hard it is to sleep when someone’s carrying you and running?”

“You can sleep _anywhere_ ,” Ace gave her a flat stare. “Also, I thought Ramshackle was fixed. Is there still no lock on the door?”

“Nope, door’s still no good,” Yuu shrugged. “I warded my windows and stuff against malicious magic and stuff, but Jack is good at defensive magic and in the first place, he’s got not-evil intentions.”

“Warded,” Deuce repeated sleepily. “That sounds so cool. Explain it to me another time, Yuu.”

“Okay. Anyway, I only managed to nap for like twenty minutes while Jack was jogging, so I’m really exhausted,” Yuu yawned.

“So you _did_ sleep anyway!” Ace spluttered.

“Hey, I’m not as bad as some people. I found a Diasomnia second-year totally asleep _outside_ one time,” Yuu protested, shedding the sweater to leave her in the warm pajamas she’d purchased from Sam’s a couple of weeks ago.

“Diasomnia? I’ve never seen any of those guys,” Ace yawned as Yuu waved her wand and shut off the lights. Some of Ramshackle’s lamps were now magic stone-powered, but Yuu was more familiar with oil lamps that she could control, so she switched her room’s lighting back a while ago.

“There are at least two in our class,” Yuu remembered.

“Everyone looks the same.”

“Are you _blind_?”

“Go to _bed_ ,” Deuce groaned, throwing a heavy arm over their shoulders.

“Ow,” Yuu wheezed, “watch your strength, former delinquent man.”

It wasn’t six hours later that Jack dragged Yuu from her comfortable cocoon, having once again showed up in her room at the crack of dawn. Even Deuce was still tired enough to roll aside, let him push Yuu into the washroom and fall asleep seconds after—Ace and Grim didn’t so much as stir.

“I should demand ten minutes of patting your ears every time you do this,” Yuu grumbled sleepily atop his back once she’d washed up and changed.

“Got your school bag?”

“Stop ignoring me.”

His shoulders shook briefly. “This is for your own good, Yuu.”

“Okay, now _that’s_ a lie.”

In stark contrast to her closest friends, Jack didn’t seem to have much trouble in any of his classes—truly the kind of student Yuu considered to be a ‘model’ one. Still, compared to Deuce, he also didn’t have any reservations or inclination to behave civilly to others. Several times during her increasing visits, Yuu had heard Savanaclaw’s students call him a hoodlum, that he resorted to violence too quickly, that as long as his weird sense of justice was satisfied, he didn’t give a crap about the lives or well-being of others.

“And that kid always pretends he doesn’t care about senpai praising him even though his tail’s honest,” Lynx complained after school that day as Yuu watched Jack and several other first years zoom back and forth across Savanaclaw’s Magift pitch while others floated over over from the castle dorm. “I know he can hear me right now. How’d you put up with such a sullen guy every morning?”

Even though it was November, the pitch was teeming with students floating around on their brooms. The sight was vaguely reminiscent of a muggle skating rink open to the public; Yuu caught sight of a couple of people hunched over half-asleep on their brooms while others narrowly avoided crashing into them and still others made crazy somersaults across the length of the field. It seemed that the school rules against using brooms were quite lax at NRC.

Lynx had pulled an all-nighter, so instead of flying around he lounged on the bleachers beside her while she watched and wondered if observing would boost her strength building scores. Her almost forgotten Ghost Camera provided a good distraction—in the day, its flashes of light as the pictures took were easily ignored. (When Yuu had explained the Ghost Camera to Savanaclaw’s dorm students, several whose eyesight were sensitive to bright lights had asked her to turn off the flash. Yuu didn’t know how to do that, so she only took pictures of them outside.)

“You’ve seen me getting piggybacked everywhere?” Yuu shrugged the shoulders of the coat Jack had given her, shoving the Camera back into her schoolbag by her feet and wondering how to develop the film. “Jack’s probably the easiest person to get along with in this school. Plus, for some reason, he doesn’t seem to hate me.”

“It’s kinda sad that you’re just expecting everyone to hate you,” Giraffe commented, floating over on a broom. “Also I _really_ don’t understand the way your brain works sometimes. Jack? Easy to get along with? Seriously?”

“Haven’t you heard? Crowley put the kid here for a reason,” Lynx shrugged lazily. “Somethin’ about managing to whip his little furball partner into shape…and then Heartslabyul. Jack ain’t too much of a stretch.”

“I feel like the rumours about me are getting more outlandish by the day,” Yuu sighed. “I don’t even know how to use a whip.”

“Figure of speech, you dumb little kid. How are you not sweltering under that huge coat?”

“Are you kidding me? It’s _freezing_ out here!” Yuu waved her arms for emphasis. “If Jack didn’t lend me his coat I’d have turned into an ice cube a long time ago. If _someone_ hadn’t dragged us out here for no reason, I wouldn’t even need it.”

“Savanaclaw’s warmer than the rest of the school, though…” Giraffe hung from his broom with one hand and gave her an unimpressed stare. “Except maybe Scarabia. Are you getting sick or something?”

“Not everyone has fur and ears and tails for insulation,” Yuu shot back. “Why are we playing Magift before exams anyway?”

“Because I’m gonna die if I keep studying,” Leopard made a tight circle around the tops of their heads. “You got a problem, Yuu-chan? I am the one who ‘dragged us out here’.”

“As long as you guys don’t use me as a Magift disc again, I’ll be fine,” Yuu said warily. “Are you all on the Magift team or something?”

“Not all of us, but flying’s good for stress reduction and therefore Blot reduction,” he explained. “Plus, we’re finally doing regular practices for next May’s inter-high tournament against RSA. People are burning up with excitement, so I figured it’d be a good idea to let them fly as much as they can, on the team or not.”

Yuu wrinkled her nose at the familiar acronym. “I’ve heard about this Royal Sword Academy a bunch of times already. Are they really that good?”

“We hate ‘em on principle,” Lynx said pleasantly, “and that’s that.”

Giraffe snorted. “NRC’s got this funny enmity for them since they’re the only other _real_ big-shot magic development school in Twisted Wonderland,” he explained, pulling himself up easily to recline sideways on his broom. “Plus, our Magift team’s lost to theirs ninety-nine times.”

“We’ll win this year,” Leopard said grimly, “since Leona-senpai’s finally off his lazy ass.”

“I can _hear_ you,” Leona roared from across the field where he was standing on his broom overlooking them all.

“Ooh, how scary,” Yuu didn’t bother to keep her voice down. “Watch out, Leopard-senpai. He might turn you to _sand_.”

Leona glared over at her. Yuu grinned cheekily back up.

“Yuu-chan,” Leopard gaped at her.

“Greats,” Giraffe nearly tipped off his broom, “stop giving me heart attacks, Yuu-chan. You can’t _say_ …never mind, _Yuu_ can.”

Everyone within earshot groaned.

“I need to hear more puns with my name,” Yuu said with a big smile, standing up to high-five him. “So Royal Sword Academy’s pretty good too?”

“They’re good.” Jack had finally returned from his circuit around the field; now he paused a distance away from the rest of the gathered brooms and crossed his arms. “I watch the matches on TV every year. NRC’s fearsome, but RSA’s strong.”

“Jack-kun’s recorded every one of Leona-san’s matches,” Ruggie called from where he was sitting atop the closer goalpost, broom in one hand. “Ain’t it cute?”

“Ruggie-senpai!” Jack protested. He cleared his throat. “…Anyway. RSA’s really excellent with their teamwork. Every one of their team was in sync with each others’ breathing…they’re worthy opponents.”

“They suck and I hate them,” Lynx said belligerently.

“I’m not interested in teamwork anyway,” Jack shrugged. “Though it’s probably what helps them the most, since NRC’s always fighting among themselves.”

“Is the team here cross- _dorm_?” Yuu gaped.

“It’s school-wide,” he nodded, “though in the past Savana kids have made up most of the members.”

“No wonder you guys lost,” she mumbled, imagining Leona and Riddle glaring at each other midair.

“Huh? Say something?” Lynx bared his teeth at her.

“You should really take a nap or something,” Yuu nudged him. “You’re not yourself when you’re tired. And I’m surprised NRC’s team didn’t take out the entire coliseum if _Leona_ -senpai had to work together with people he doesn’t like.”

Briefly she wondered if the elusive Che’nya was on the Magift team. Maybe Yuu would ask Riddle or Trey later when she went to study at Heartslabyul. Though perhaps it was better to wait until after the exams were over—Riddle was puffed up with stress and resisting the urge to Behead anyone who refused to study to expel his irritation. Trey looked a little more harried herding students away from the incensed Dorm Head every time she visited.

Yuu still wasn’t clear who, exactly, made up the Magift team at Night Raven College, but as students arrived in the pitch and kicked off into the sky, she spotted a colourful variety of athletic uniforms ranging from lilac to dark rouge to deep indigo. She snapped a few more pictures and chatted idly with passing students, huddling against a dozing Lynx to shield herself against the cold.

Jack eventually coerced her to ride in front of him for evaluation—“I heard your physical scores are abysmal,” he’d given her a disappointed look—and took her on a slow circuit around the pitch as Yuu explained that she just had no muscles to build.

By this point even she was aware how easily swayed she was by Jack. He wasn’t Grim, whom she indulged to the point of Ace and Deuce whining about it—but whether it was because of the ears and tail or because Jack was one of her favourite hardworking students, it seemed impossible to say _no_ to him.

“I don’t have to fly—that’s Grim’s job,” she explained, clinging onto Jack’s arms as she perched hesitantly in front of him on the broom, “but instead I run and lift weights and pair up with Grim during partner exercises. My effort score is perfect, but my performance scores are below average.”

“What did Professor Vargas say?”

“‘ _Hmm. You need to use your muscles more,_ ’” Yuu imitated the deep voice. “…Even though I don’t have muscles. Anyone else would’ve just dubbed me a lost cause by now. I’m not expecting much from my exam.”

“Giving up?” Jack’s voice sunk into a derisive rumble from behind her. “Didn’t expect that out of you. It’s not like you’re the first person to have trouble building muscle. Might as well fix it in time for exams instead of snivelling.”

Yuu groaned. “Do we really have to do this?”

“You need to get over your fear of heights,” Jack grunted. “And can’t you…” he waved his finger like a wand, indicating her half-enchanted broomstick still lying in a corner of Leona’s room.

“Just because I _can_ doesn’t mean I’ll ever do it outside of an emergency,” Yuu grumbled. “Can you put me down now?”

“…I wanna introduce you to someone first,” Jack dropped a foot, changing direction. “He’s the same size as you and still gets top marks in physically taxing classes. Maybe you can learn from him and stop complaining.”

“Jack,” Yuu blinked, craning her head back to meet his firm stare. “Why are you so nice to me?”

“I’m not being nice to you! Look forward!” Jack barked.

Yuu wished she could see if his tail was wagging again, but flying was scary, so she followed his command.

It didn’t take long for Yuu to catch sight of the person Jack had mentioned. The size was a dead giveaway—up until this point, only Riddle Rosehearts stood at (almost) eye-level with her and even he outpaced her when wearing his tall boots that were part of the Dorm Head uniform. (“They’re not _heels_ ,” Riddle had hissed in Ace’s direction when her big-mouthed friend had snickered about it.) This person was even smaller than Riddle, built delicately and perched on a broom making slow spirals higher and higher into the air.

“Epel,” Jack called. The boy turned. “I’ve got someone I want you to meet.”

The one called ‘Epel’ blinked slowly at their approach, but Yuu herself was too busy staring at him. He wore Pomefiore’s indigo athletic uniform in its short-sleeved iteration, and despite the chill, had its black track jacket half-unzipped.

He was also one of the prettiest boys Yuu had ever seen.

The observation that NRC was full of good-looking people had gotten rather old by now, but Epel held a strange ephemeral aura to his slight frame that gave the impression he’d be blown away by one good gust of wind. Perhaps it was the limpid blue eyes—perhaps it was the lilac waves of hair drawn back into a short ponytail at the nape of his neck.

 _No wonder people didn’t realise my gender_ , Yuu thought dumbly. _If they were going to doubt someone, they’d doubt this guy first_. Azul was pretty too, but this boy had the feel of a ‘heroine’.

Her silence had lasted too long. The boy called Epel was frowning in her direction now, a bright spark of anger narrowing those huge blue eyes. “ _Aah_? ’T’chu lookin’ at ’er?”

“Sorry?” Yuu blinked several times, not having expected such a rough growl to come from such a delicate-looking person.

Jack nudged the broom until they were floating close enough to speak comfortably. “Epel, this is Yuu,” he introduced gruffly. “You’ve heard of the Directing Student, and we’ve been in the same joined class a few times this month. Yuu, this is Epel Felmier. He’s in Class B with me.”

“Nice to meet you,” Yuu waved, though her fingers were mostly hidden under Jack’s big coat. “Sorry I was staring.”

“Whoops…” Epel muttered to himself, clearing his throat a few times. “Um…no, actually, I should apologize. Nice to meet you, Yuu-san. Are you friends with Jack…?”

Now his voice was light and rather frail, matching his transient-looking appearance. Yuu wondered if she had been hearing things before.

“We recently made friends,” she smiled back hesitantly, ignoring Jack’s disagreeing noise behind her. “Jack said you’re really good with strength building…I’m jealous. My physical class scores are terrible.”

“Do you get picked on because you’re small too…?” Epel scrunched his brows together, briefly showing that same spark of anger in his eyes. “…Um…you must have it tough, Yuu-san…being the Directing Student and all…living in that haunted shack and not being able to use magic in classes.”

“It’s not so bad,” Yuu shrugged. Haunted shack? “People like to make a big deal of it, but I really don’t care what size I am. Though it really sucks when I can’t run for longer than ten minutes straight.”

“You can’t?” Epel lost the frail look as he gaped at her. “Jack-kun, I thought you didn’t hang around with weak people.”

“Ouch.” Once again, the end of his voice changed very slightly. Was Epel hiding an accent?

“This kid doesn’t look like much, but he’s got a backbone made of iron,” Jack floated a little closer. “Enough to pass Savanaclaw’s outdated harassment initiation system. I’m just paying back what I owe, but…Try hanging out with him, Epel—you’d be surprised.”

“That so…?” Epel squinted at her, long lashes casting shadows over his cheeks. “It _is_ the first time I’ve seen someone my size in this school.”

“Me too,” Yuu nodded solemnly. “The average height at this school is too high. My neck hurts from always craning my head up to meet their eyes.”

“Only you take the pains to stare people in the eyes when they talk,” Jack grumbled. “I keep telling you it’s dangerous to look Therianthropes in the eyes. They’ll take it as picking a fight.”

“We’re friends now, so nobody minds.” Yuu refrained from mentioning that it was practice for Occlumency that she’d started last year. Mahoutokoro had not taken well to her tendency to stare others in the eyes—Japan was a nonconfrontational country, magical or not. “Epel…san? Are you on the Magift team here?”

“That’s right,” Epel nodded. “It’s been my goal to enter an athletic club…and I guess I’m the best at flying out of the other sports clubs offered here. Um…we’re in the same year, so you don’t have to be so polite around me, you know.”

“Then you too,” Yuu grinned over at him, dropping her polite speech. “Call me Yuu. I’m still fifteen, so probably younger than you.”

“Then…Yuu-kun?” Epel squinted. “So you’re here to fly with the rest of the Savanaclaw students here?”

“Sort of—”

“Jack!” Deer called from below. “C’mon over here, we’re gonna play a little three-on-three! And stop hogging Yuu-chan!”

“…I’ll leave you two to it,” Jack lifted Yuu by the armpits and closed the distance between them and Epel. “Here, Epel, hold on to Yuu for a while. He’s afraid of heights, so be careful.”

“Wait, _Jack!?_ ” Yuu yelped as her butt left the broom.

“It’s okay. I won’t drop you.”

“Afraid of heights?” Epel blinked several times, looking between them as Jack deposited Yuu on Epel’s broom. They both rocked back and forth at the impact. “Whoa! Careful, Jack, what if he falls!?”

“He’s fallen plenty of times. And you’re good enough to catch him.” Jack planted a hand in Yuu’s hair. “Don’t cause trouble again while I’m gone, Yuu.”

“What is he, my dad?” Yuu muttered belligerently, clutching Epel’s shirt as her heart raced. “Humans are not meant to be this high.”

Epel had braced an arm around her back to support her as she adjusted herself in front of him. “…You’re really small…” he commented, a note of suspicion colouring his voice. “Are you seriously a boy? Even for fifteen…”

Up to this point, Yuu had proceeded through her school days with barely a thought to her gender—she had been told numerous times that she wasn’t very boyish, encouraged to leave the school on more than one occasion. But thanks to Leona’s scentless bottle and Crewel’s figure-trimming clothing sets, she had just sort of believed no one would notice.

“What do you mean?” Yuu felt the double-weight of their height and her nerves speed up her heart rate even further. “Aren’t we similar sizes?”

“Well…yeah, but even I’m not this…little and soft and…” Epel trailed off.

“…I don’t—”

“—Sorry! I shouldn’t—I’m always the one gettin’ pissed a’ the ones callin’ me ‘girly’,” the boy behind her suddenly raised his voice. The broom they were both perched on burst forwards briefly with the exclamation; Yuu yelped and clutched at Epel as they floated back over towards the bleachers.

“P-pardon?” Yuu managed weakly after the broom had stabilized.

“You must…get it a lot, too…” Epel’s voice was heavy with bitterness behind her. “…Always being called small and pretty and having your gender doubted ‘cause ya can’t build muscle.”

“Yeah, people do that a lot in this school. Especially Savanaclaw students. I think they’ve got the highest average height in this entire school,” Yuu said wryly, carefully swinging her leg over to sit sideways on the broom so she could see his face. “You okay? That was a pretty uncontrolled burst of flight just now.”

“…Fine…” Epel grimaced, shaking his head violently. “I was just…thinking too much. Right. You’re not pissed at me? Er, angry. That I insulted you?”

“No. I mean, are you suspecting me as not being a boy?” Yuu lifted her brows in return.

“So it’s true…that you don’t look anything like one…and you’re really small and fragile…” Epel descended into muttering.

“Right back at you,” Yuu muttered under her breath.

“But I haven’t seen many people my age before arriving at NRC…so what do I know, I guess,” the first year Pomefiore student shrugged. “And I’ve heard some seriously insane rumours about’cha since September and _Jack_ of all people vouched for ya. So it ain’t really up to me to judge.”

“Rumours again,” Yuu commented, swallowing a sigh of relief. She was safe for now. “I’m really not that interesting.”

“Really? But Captain talks about you a bunch,” Epel blinked.

“Captain?” Yuu repeated slowly.

“Leona-san…Leona-senpai,” Epel clarified. “You don’t know? He’s the captain of the Magift team here. He said that ‘for an herbivore, you’ve got some bite’. To impress someone like Leona-san is no small feat.”

“That lazy guy is the _captain_? Oh…right…I think I heard something like that from Aardvark-senpai the other day,” Yuu squinted. “Leona-senpai’s extra nice to his friends, though.”

“I don’t think I’ve heard _anyone_ call him a ‘friend’ before,” Epel looked over at her, bemused. “You really…aren’t like how everyone says, Yuu-sa…Yuu-kun.”

“I’ve heard that a lot recently,” Yuu grinned at him. “Um, so we’ve basically just met, but mind if I ask you how you do so well in strength building classes? Exams are coming up in two weeks, and my marks are kind of…not good.”

Epel Felmier had a lot in common with Yuu. His relatively small size was one—another was his lack of knowledge about NRC. Due to the relative seclusion in which he had lived, there were a lot of customs that surprised him as much as it did her; according to Epel, not many people in his hometown were magic users.

“Before I came to this school, I lived in a really small village in the Country of Pyroxene,” he told her. “It’s called the Village of Abundant Harvest…have you heard of it?”

Yuu shook her head wide-eyed. In the first place, she had been unaware that there was a place named ‘Pyroxene’ in this world. Curiosity welled up within her. “What’s it like?”

Bemused by her enthusiasm, Epel nevertheless directed his broom in an easy sweep around the pitch as he searched for an explanation, unable to stop the small grin from turning up his mouth. “…It’s not really interesting,” he shrugged. “I’m not surprised you don’t know it…Pyroxene Country is really big…Jack’s from the same country, but we never met ‘til we both came here.”

“I thought Jack didn’t seem like he was educated in the Afterglow Savannah,” Yuu nodded thoughtfully. “So is your Village of Abundant Harvest a smaller place?”

“You’ve _no_ idea. I’m the only guy my age in the entire village,” Epel grimaced. “Which is fine. But we do a lot of field work there…and our family has a huge apple orchard we make a living off of. So the reason I’m so good at Magift and stuff is because I have to fly all the way up to pick apples all the time.”

“You’re saying that I have to do a lot of power work to build muscle…” Yuu inferred with a groan. “I wasn’t built for this whole physical education stuff.”

“You seemed to know most of the answers to the questions during our joined classes,” Epel pointed out. “Ain’t that good enough? Jack wants you to do better in Flying class or somethin’?”

“Jack just can’t stand people who don’t put their all into everything,” Yuu sighed. “He’d be great friends with Aristotle. They could talk about eudaimonia and stuff.”

“What?” Epel squinted.

“Nothing. He’s mostly right anyway.” Yuu wrinkled her nose. “Guess I’ll have to exercise with Grim a little more before exam time then…thanks, Epel.”

“I didn’t really do anything,” Epel swerved smoothly out of the way of a passing Jackal, who was laughing crazily as he waved a burning Magift disc around. “…Well…I don’t not understand forcing yourself to go through stuff you don’t like to get stronger…so do your best…Yuu-kun.”

Epel seemed to leave a slight distance between him and others when speaking, although he wasn’t exactly unfriendly. After a few circuits around the pitch, in which they talked idly about the upcoming events and anticipated being paired with the second years for their first electives post-exam week, Ruggie called the members of the Magift team down while the remainder continued their freeform play around the pitch.

Yuu hopped down onto solid ground a little shakily after Epel landed. For a first year, his technique was indeed head and shoulders above the ridiculously zigzagging Ace, Deuce and Grim, and he possessed a smoothness in movement that only Leona seemed to beat.

“I see the only two kids under a hundred and sixty centimetres have met,” Leopard called over with a grin.

“Hah?” Epel glared in his direction. “Got a problem? …Um, senpai.”

“What an un-cute kid,” Ruggie laughed. “You should know not to provoke Epel-kun. Okay, Yuu-kun, come sit over here by this napping Captain while we go through stretches and warmups. Wake him up by the time we come back, got it?”

“Me?” Yuu complained half-heartedly. “But he doesn’t wake up for _anything_.”

“I’m leaving it to you,” Ruggie ignored her. “C’mon, boys, look alive! Brooms down for now.”

“What is it with people here and ignoring me when they feel like it?” Yuu muttered. Epel cast her a worried glance, so she waved him off with a grin.

Leona sat propped up against the goalpost in his Savanaclaw athletic T-shirt, not seeming affected by the cold as his head of wavy hair drooped towards his chest. Yuu huddled beside him as the team ran to do Ruggie’s bidding and felt his arm, a little worried.

Never mind. This guy was almost as warm as Jack.

“You and Jack and Ruggie-senpai are like portable furnaces,” she commented with delight, sticking to his side as warmth seeped through the coat. “Leona-senpai…wake up. Your Magift team is having practice right now. As the Captain, aren’t you supposed to be out there instead of Ruggie-senpai?”

No response.

She hadn’t been expecting one. Not from the person who’d slept through hours of Ruggie cleaning his room (and Ruggie wasn’t quiet about it). Yuu settled down more comfortably, her bottom cold against the dirt-packed pitch, and drew her knees up to her chest under Jack’s huge coat. “I met Epel for the first time today. He almost figured me out. Maybe this disguise isn’t perfect…”

On the field underneath clusters of flying students, the Magift team—including Ruggie—were stretching their limbs loosely, talking and laughing. Epel seemed to have carved out a place within the team despite being the shortest one there. As she watched, Leopard ruffled his hair and nearly got punched in the stomach in return.

“Ooh,” Yuu emitted, impressed, as they began a series of sprints back and forth. “Epel’s _fast_. Guess all that field work paid off. Leona-senpai, you should get up soon…you’ll catch a cold sleeping here no matter how high your body temperature is.”

Nothing but the sound of breathing.

“Wonder if it’s a Therianthrope thing…Great protection against the cold,” Yuu mused. “Though Mermen seem to have much lower body temperatures than humans.”

“Oi,” Leona growled from beside her. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

Yuu yelped. “You were awake?! Give me some warning!”

“You were the one who just kept blabbering on by themselves,” Leona narrowed his eyes at her, sitting up straighter. “…That coat doesn’t fit at all. You look like a marshmallow.”

“It’s warm and that’s all that matters,” Yuu argued back. “Shouldn’t you be out there?”

“Ruggie can deal with it,” Leona muffled a yawn into his palm. He spoke lowly through his fingers so that none of the sharp ears around could catch his next words. “…That kid, Epel. He might look as weak as you, but don’t underestimate him. Those Pomefiore types are even more picky about beauty than you are. They’ll figure you out, fast.”

“I had a close shave already,” Yuu said sheepishly. “Thanks for the warning. Epel seems like a cool guy.”

“He’s got promise,” Leona nodded once. “Magift is about strategy way more than height or build, and the kid’s good at flying. Not the worst ‘friend’ to make here. Just don’t get found out.”

“Right,” Yuu muttered. “Speaking of which, do you have any more of that scentless bottle thing? I’ve been using it a lot and am kind of running out.”

—

Yuu bade Grim goodbye with great reluctance after class Thursday. Later on that evening she had another shift at Mostro Lounge, but Grim had been behaving increasingly shiftily the past week, and it had surpassed the threshold of being ignorable. Right now he was headed straight back to Ramshackle to nap even though Yuu had offered to work on homework together in the library after school.

“What’s he up to?” she murmured as students passed her in the hallway.

With the busy season of studying clouding her mind, Yuu had not mustered the effort to pay close attention to her friends, so engrossed was she in reviewing, running back and forth between professors asking questions, and participating in Riddle’s brain-wringing study sessions. Both Ace and Deuce just seemed to be slacking off (the latter usually dragged off by the former), but Grim looked like he might be up to something.

Yuu wasn’t yet skilled at balancing studying—what she had been used to doing her whole life—and her relatively new friends. Like with Riddle post Overblot, she wondered if she should be doing something different.

As she treaded back through the hallway towards Crowley’s office, Yuu rubbed her temples tiredly and swallowed a yawn. Now that exams were coming up, Crowley was eager to appear halfway through lessons regardless of subject—scaring the room full of students badly—and declaring that he would personally quiz them on what they were currently learning. Something about that tense atmosphere made most students give excellent answers during his spot checks, so she thought he must know some way to help her retain information better despite his silly appearances.

As she was crossing the second-year’s classroom hallway in the direction of the Headmaster’s office, Trein’s stern voice leaked through the open doorway of the farthest one ahead of her. “…you would apply yourself a little more,” he was lecturing.

This in itself was nothing new—Ace and Deuce and Grim were lectured by Trein all the time. He wore the disapproving kind of look that suppressed instinctive arguing a student might try, and was so noble in his bearing that most students couldn’t figure out a way to win over him. Trein was also extremely strict. With Lucius’ sharp eyes as a guide, he was unstoppable, which meant most found him disagreeable—to say the least.

Yuu winced briefly as she continued on her way, only to stop dead at the responding drawl she knew far too well.

“What are you even _mad_ about, Aka-ika-sense~i?” Floyd’s slow tenor dragged at the end with his whine. “I got a hundred percent last time.”

Yuu’s feet stopped. What was an ‘ _Aka-ika_ ’? Sometimes Floyd’s nicknames exceeded her limited Japanese knowledge of sea creatures.

“That matters little when your bearing in class is so slovenly,” Trein didn’t miss a beat. “I’ve said repeatedly that grades depend on both your performance and attitude, and sleeping through classes is _not_ acceptable.”

“But _sensei_ ,” Floyd whined, “it’s not my fault your class is boring.”

“…Care to repeat that again, Mister Leech?”

Of _course_ this person got perfect scores without even trying. And talked back to Trein without a single shred of fear. Yuu sighed and started walking again; hopefully Crowley would be in his office. She was looking forward to watching his overly theatrical antics. As much as all of the students thought him strange and hard to approach, Yuu still could not overcome her instinctive good impression of the Headmaster.

“… _Aaah_! Aka-ika-sensei, someone’s waiting for me so I gotta go,” Floyd’s voice rose joyfully. “I’ll listen to your sermons later! See ya!”

“Mister Leech. I’m not done with—!”

A few steps ahead of her, the door lying slightly ajar was kicked open by Floyd’s unbelievably long leg. His head of stunning turquoise hair poked out, revealing two mismatched eyes slanted downwards in a happy grin. “Koebi-chan! You came to get me!”

“I _what_?” Yuu jumped. “Senpai, are you sure you can just kick a door in front of Professor—”

“Good li’l shrimp,” he interrupted her, crossing the distance in a few strides. “This is how we symbiote. C’mon, Jade’s probably already down in the Lounge.”

“Stop right there, Floyd Leech,” Trein’s stern baritone preceded the older man’s appearance in the doorway, Lucius perched sleepily across one arm. “We were not finished with our conversation…Mister Yuu.”

“Um, good afternoon Professor Trein,” Yuu dipped him a bow of greeting before Floyd leaned most of his body weight on her from behind. “Oof. Senpai, are you _trying_ to squish me?”

“…You were here to…retrieve Mister Leech?” Trein said doubtfully, looking between them with a strange expression.

“Huh? No, I was just—”

Floyd slapped a cool hand over her mouth. “Tha~t’s right,” his smile was bright in his voice. “See, this li’l shrimp here was worried about his marks, so he asked me for study tips. Aren’t we good students? Aka-ika-sensei? You should praise us for being so _diligent_ …and having good _attitudes_ and stuff.”

Yuu considered pinching the hand. Or biting it.

Trein squinted at them for a long moment. “…Mister Yuu’s weakest point is, according to Professor Vargas, sustained physical activity,” he said after a long moment. “His performance in my class is better than _yours_ overall, Mister Leech. You would do well to learn from his…diligence.”

“Oka~y then, see ya later sensei,” Floyd put both hands on Yuu’s shoulders and turned her around smartly. “C’mon, Koebi-chan. Let’s go to the library or whatever. ‘Cause we’re good students.”

“Senpai…you sure like manhandling me,” Yuu gave up resisting him.

“I’m being ni~ce, you know.”

Once they had safely left the second years’ hallway behind, Floyd rested his head on her shoulder and let out a big sigh of relief in the stairwell. “Aka-ika-sensei’s _always_ pulling me aside and getting all puffed up about something. Seriously annoying. Why does he always pick on me?”

“Maybe if you stayed awake during classes he’d stop?” Yuu suggested, unable to hide her amusement. “Sometimes you act like a big baby, Strangler-senpai.”

“Where’s the impertinent mouth that’s insulting their upperclassman?” Floyd pinched her cheek briefly. “Anyway, you’ve got a shift tonight, right? Let’s go early. I wanna make a snack.”

“You can go on ahead,” Yuu said patiently, voice slightly distorted as her cheek stretched. “I need to go visit the Headmaster to ask him some questions about class. Not all of us can get perfect scores without trying.”

“Huh? Headmaster?” Floyd let her cheek go. “You’re asking _him_?”

“He’s smart,” Yuu defended Crowley. “And sometimes we drink tea and eat cake and talk about school anyway.”

“What’s with that,” Floyd puffed out his cheeks. “I’m smarter and Jade’s a better teacher and Azul’s the smartest one out of _all_ of us. We can teach you better than Headmaster can.”

“I told you, I’m not going to make a contract for Ashengrotto-senpai’s notes,” Yuu started.

“Stop that already. We’re symbiotic, you dumb shrimp,” Floyd rolled his eyes. “Okay, c’mon, I’ll even answer your questions once we get to the Lounge. Just for you. I’m _way_ nicer than that suspicious Headmaster, aren’t I amazing? So praise me.”

“Senpai,” Yuu yelped as he lifted her down the stairs, “Let me go!”

“Think of it as a return gift for saving me from Aka-ika-sensei,” he ignored her. “Plus, you’re coming over in a couple hours anyway. It won’t make a difference. I think Azul has you on waiter duty tonight, by the way.”

“Oh, really? I didn’t know that. Thanks.” Yuu’s feet touched the ground at the end of the staircase. “Wait. Stop sweeping me along in your pace! I wanted to go talk to Headmaster Crowley!”

“Too ba~d,” Floyd pushed her along. “Why do you even like the Headmaster so much?”

“After Grim—my partner—he’s the first person who found me here and basically took all the responsibility for some stranger suddenly falling into his school,” Yuu explained. “I know he’s kind of suspicious, but I can’t help liking him.”

“I think you caused an even bigger scene than I did last year,” Floyd reminisced. “Azul said you were _rea~lly_ disruptive.”

“I don’t want to know what _you_ did,” Yuu gave up resisting and let him steer her towards the castle doors. “You sound like you had a lot of fun your first year.”

“A _ha_ ~! We had to get used to Land first, but it’s seriously interesting around here,” Floyd said in high spirits. They passed a cluster of Pomefiore students, who gawked in shocked silence. Yuu wondered if they, too, were intimidated by Floyd’s height. “People in this school are crazy.”

“Yeah…I noticed,” Yuu laughed weakly. “Though I would’ve thought being under the sea is more interesting.”

“You kidding me? We can’t even wear shoes down there!” When she craned her head back to look at him, Floyd was making a disgusted expression. “Well, it’s not like there’s nothing to do, but being up here is fun. There’s dancing, climbing, flying, parkour…Until I get bored of it, land is full of stuff to explore.”

“Shoes…” Yuu mused as they left the school and descended its steep set of stairs towards Main Street. She glanced down at hers and the much larger set on either side of her feet. “Whoa, those are some really nice leather shoes. I’ve always thought you had surprisingly good taste in footwear for someone who doesn’t seem to care about the rest of his appearance.”

“Sometimes I wonder if you _want_ me to squeeze you,” Floyd commented. “Your shoes are pretty nice for a li’l shrimp too.”

“Professor Vargas gave it to me,” Yuu told him proudly, “if he didn’t teach physical education, I’d like him a lot more.”

“Hmm~? You sure have weird taste in people,” Floyd rested his chin on her head as they walked. “Flying’s kinda tough, man.”

“Tell me about it…but senpai, you dance? And parkour? Even though you’re a Merman?” Yuu asked interestedly as they made their way down Main Street. Although she’d left Jack’s coat on the table in her hurry to run to class that morning, Floyd’s relatively large frame shielded her from the worst of the chill and wind. Even his cool body temperature didn’t seem so bad in the weather.

“Helps you get used to two legs,” Floyd explained, “and Ishidai-sensei’s _hilarious_ when you climb on the roof and pop upside down over a window close to his face during a class. He nearly bursts a vein! I gotta show you a picture next time.”

“Ishidai?” Yuu repeated confusedly. “What’s that? Sometimes I don’t get your names.”

“Oh yeah…you’re, like, from a world with no fish or something.”

“We have fish! I’ve just never seen any,” she protested.

“It’s like _this_ big,” he propped up both arms on her shoulder to demonstrate, “and is striped black and white all over like Ishidai-sensei is. Get it?”

“You mean Professor Crewel’s fur coat!?” Yuu gaped. “You’ve got the guts to pi—to make _him_ mad? Senpai…I underestimated how brave you are.”

“A _ha~_ , Koebi-chan’s flailing around like a scared shrimp. Why are you overreacting? Aka-ika-sensei’s scarier than Ishidai-sensei by a ton.”

“No he’s not! Professor Trein cares about his students and stuff! Unlike Professor Crewel who just _let_ us handle extremely dangerous explosives last week and flings that stuff around without any protective equipment!” Yuu protested vehemently. “…Plus he fights you if you’re bad…and lectures for like three hours when I get into dangerous situations…”

“Aww…the poor li’l shrimp can’t survive without any magic,” Floyd sounded delighted as he dragged his voice out even longer. “Hey, next month us second years get to have classes with you first years, so you can hide behind me when Ishidai-sensei gets pissed.”

When Floyd was in a good mood, talking to him was never boring; a breath of fresh air like the mints he often chewed on. In the end, he was so interesting that Yuu had gotten over his strangling a long time ago (not that she’d ever tell him). On their way to Octavinelle, they discussed how expensive shoes were on Land and how Yuu should really get an encyclopaedia about marine life since she only understood half of the names Floyd chose and none of their meanings.

He also nearly collapsed laughing when, in front of Octavinelle’s mirror, Yuu shut her eyes and clutched him like a lifeline. It took them three tries to make it through the mirror because Floyd couldn’t stop bursting into loud guffaws. Eventually he flung her over his shoulder, still wheezing with laughter, and dove through the mirror without a shred of hesitance.

“It’s not that funny,” Yuu protested, thumping his back sulkily after she’d recovered. “I don’t like this world’s weird travelling methods and stuff.”

“I can’t breathe,” The securing arm around her back loosened dangerously as Floyd coughed. “You weren’t scared when I nearly _killed_ you! And how many times have you travelled by mirror in the past three months?”

“I never said it was a rational fear!”

Octavinelle right after school was teeming with students in the hallways. All of them stopped and stared as Floyd made his way past with long strides, still snickering. They circled out down the path to Mostro Lounge and then into the building, where Arc-eye Hawkfish was standing behind the bar.

“What the!?” he spluttered when they ducked in the doorway.

“Afternoon,” Yuu waved from Floyd’s shoulder as he made a beeline for the kitchen. “I know I’m a little early, but…”

“Ja~de!” Floyd called, ducking down and pushing the door open. “Are you there? I want food. Make some for Koebi-chan too.”

“I’m not even hungry,” Yuu protested as they left the gaping Arc-eye behind.

“ _Oya_ ,” Jade’s voice was pleasantly surprised. Floyd deposited Yuu more gently than she expected with both hands and she turned to see him kneading dough with both hands as he smiled over at them. “Floyd, it’s not good to kidnap your underclassmen without asking permission. Good afternoon, Mister Directing Student.”

“I don’t care. I want takoyaki,” Floyd leaned against her bonelessly. “Plus I’m gonna help Koebi-chan with his homework. You know, since his shrimp brain looks like it can’t handle this world’s stuff right now.”

“Wasn’t that just an excuse?” she muttered.

“Why…Floyd, you’ve _grown_ ,” Jade gasped in exaggerated glee. “Offering to teach your schoolmates? I’m so proud of you!”

“Praise me _more_ ,” Floyd wriggled, grin growing.

“His whole ‘praise me’ thing has got to come from you spoiling him,” Yuu commented, swaying with the movement. “I know I’m pretty early, but do you want some help, Leech-senpai?”

“Your diligence is one of your virtues, but do accompany my brother, please,” Jade said smoothly. “It’s been a long time since Floyd has had playdates with friends. Floyd, what kind of takoyaki?”

“Playdates!?”

“I’ll leave it to you. C’mon, Koebi-chan. What’s your worst subject? Music?”

“Huh?! There are music classes here?” Yuu forgot her next retort as Floyd herded her over to a table.

“Uh-huh. It’s an elective. By the wa~y, music’s my strongest class,” Floyd collapsed beside her. “You first years don’t have electives yet?”

“Honestly, I’m having enough trouble keeping up in regular courses that I haven’t noticed,” Yuu said sheepishly. “Just follow my friends wherever they go. I’ll have you know, my old school has music classes and even a school choir I was involved in, so don’t make assumptions about me.”

Music as an elective…maybe next semester she’d see if she could attend.

 _You might not be here next semester_ , her brain reminded her coolly.

Floyd was giving her a weird look. “ _You_ can sing? But you’re so small and unimpressive-looking.”

“That has nothing to do with anything.”

“Mermen are particular about voices,” Jade said smoothly, setting two glasses of water in front of them. “They find it a quality boosting up the ‘impressiveness’ of someone. You were in your school choir, Mister Directing Student?”

“Unlike the athletically-inclined people in this school, I tended to be in clubs like the fine arts and music ones,” Yuu explained with a word of thanks. “What about you, senpai? Are you good at music too?”

“Jade doesn’t care about music,” Floyd answered for his twin. “He’s always doing experiments and stuff. With _mushrooms_. Gross.”

“One day, I’ll impress upon my brother just how amazing the world of fungi is,” Jade said solemnly. “The takoyaki will take around twenty minutes, so why don’t you use the time to study?”

“I don’t _study_ ,” Floyd made a face.

“I’ve never wanted to punch you more than just now,” Yuu bared her teeth at him. “ _I_ study.”

“Really? You look sort of brainless.”

This time she really did sock him in the side. Floyd, however, didn’t seem to be unduly affected; instead, he tipped over sniggering and refused to let her properly review her notes for the duration of their pre-shift stay.

—

“Thanks to everyone here, I’m starting to forget that I’m not a Heartslabyul student,” Yuu complained to Cater during a break in studying the next day.

The third year glanced up from his smartphone. “Hmm? You aren’t?”

“Cater-senpai…” Yuu rolled her eyes.

“Ah ha ha! Sorry, sorry. Here, have a cookie as apology!”

“You just want me to eat them because you hate sweet foods,” Yuu sighed, but leaned over so Cater could stuff the warm oatmeal cookie into her mouth.

The semester’s countdown had finally cut the line of one week before exam week began; Riddle had also finally snapped when he’d seen Ace and Deuce playing cards in the Heartslabyul Lounge instead of studying. Currently he was fuming at her collared friends in the hallway while Trey tried to diffuse the situation and Yuu puzzled over a difficult Magical Analysis problem close to the fireplace. Azul’s tips had helped, but she wasn’t gifted with mathematics the same way Yuu liked alchemy and history.

“Let the stress out of your shoulders,” Cater gave her an exasperated smile as he sipped his straight tea. “Why are you and Riddle-kun so serious? Look at Grim-chan, he’s just napping on your shoulders.”

“Grim isn’t a very good example,” Yuu said after swallowing. “First of all, my old dormitory in my old school was very competitive in scores and stuff…but second of all, if this little guy refuses to study, he might get in trouble. And I’m his ‘Directing Student’, aren’t I? If my scores are good, at least, he might get a pass if I beg.”

“You’re doing this for him?”

“I’m not that nice,” Yuu grinned, releasing her pencil briefly to stretch sore fingers. “But Grim’s my partner. I don’t know what he’s been up to, but I’m going to support him no matter what. If that means figuring out the tough stuff so I can teach him later, so be it.”

“Hmm,” Cater gave her a thoughtful hum. “You sure go far for people you ‘like’.”

“Do I?” Yuu blinked.

“Two Overblots,” Cater said simply. “And a lot of the trouble you get in is because you were wrapped up in it with the A-Deuce combo.”

“They’re my friends.”

“Exactly. But does that mean they’re worth more than you?” Cater narrowed his hazel-green eyes slightly. “Oh, you did the two equations in the opposite order here, Yuu-chan.”

“Huh? Shoot, where?”

Cater was unexpectedly good at maths—although he insisted his strongest class was Astrology, which was another elective, he had the same logical thought patterns that Azul did. The next half-hour passed by as Cater walked her through the last question she was stuck on and watched amusedly as Yuu redid it three times before she really understood it.

“I don’t think you’re gonna get tested on that,” he remarked as Yuu nearly dislodged Grim from around her shoulders in excitement. “It’s pretty tough for a first-year problem.”

“It uses like every concept we learned in the past three months, so it’s great review,” Yuu said with satisfaction. “Thank you Cater-senpai. I’ll make you really spicy pasta next time.”

“You already demolished my MagiCam cookies for me,” Cater shook his head, “don’t worry about it. And Magical Analysis is pretty much just Astrology without the bells and whistles, so it’s not hard.”

“Everyone here is so smart,” Yuu said admiringly as Riddle’s shouting leaked through over to their couch. They exchanged glances.

“ _Acha~_. Looks like they’re going to take a while,” Cater winced. “You sure you don’t wanna reconsider being friends with those two? No matter how you look at it, there’s no merit in it for Yuu-chan.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ve decided I’d put Ace and Deuce and Grim in higher priority than merit, though.” Yuu scratched the sleeping Monster’s head where it was nestled under her ear. “Cater-senpai…it’s probably a lot easier to avoid getting hurt if you keep a distance between other people. You’re a lot smarter than me, so I’m sure you’re more skilled about that than I am. But this is the first time I…”

She scrunched up her face, losing her words. Yuu had never been especially eloquent.

Cater regarded her without his usual smile. Observing.

“I’ve never been able to just hang out and talk with people…have sleepovers…sit here with you and drink tea together,” Yuu held onto the hem of his sleeve absently. “Ace and Deuce—and you, Cater-senpai, you’ve accepted me and I’ve never—I want you to be able to feel one hundredth of what you’ve given me. Want you to know just a little bit that you’ve _saved_ me. Ugh, I suck at talking.”

“We didn’t even do anything,” Cater reached forward and pushed her bangs out of her eyes so he could peer into her face. “You’re pretty starved for affection, huh, Yuu-chan?”

“You probably knew that a while ago.” She smiled back at him. “And you’re trying to warn me.”

“…Sometimes, I can’t tell if you’re amazingly sharp or really dumb,” Cater said wryly, letting the curtain of hair fall back over her blue eyes. “I could be trying to push you away. ‘Cause you’re annoying.”

“Whatever it is, your words are benefiting me.”

“But you aren’t going to listen?” Cater cocked an elegant brow at her.

“Who’s going to eat the sweets you don’t want to after you post food pictures to MagiCam?” Yuu grinned back cheekily. “I don’t know what you’re worried about, senpai, but it’s okay. Though I’m not transferring to Heartslabyul, hanging out with you guys isn’t going to hurt me.”

“For someone who’s so logical, that’s pretty brash of you to just say.”

“It’s okay,” she repeated firmly, and grabbed his hand. It was cold. “I’m not saying it without backup. I can deal with whatever happens. Wizard, remember?”

“Wizard…huh?” Cater looked down at their joined hands. “Even magic can’t solve every problem.”

“Then we can work on it together.” Yuu gave him an exasperated smile. “For someone who’s the epitome of social skill, sometimes I don’t understand whether you’re an introvert or an extravert.”

“Ah ha ha.” Cater winked at her without his usual flamboyance. “I’m like an onion. Lots of layers.”

Yuu believed it. “But no matter how many layers you have, we’re still friends, okay?” she squeezed. “You’ve been sort of out of it all day. If you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t push, but, um…cheer up! Senpai!”

Cater blinked in real surprise. “…How did you know I was…?”

“Honestly, that those two fools have been wandering around the school without studying for _months_ ,” fumed Riddle, stomping back into the lounge, “I should hang them from the ramparts of the castle.”

“Now, now, Riddle,” Trey was wearing a troubled smile, “I’m sure they’re reflecting on their actions. Why don’t you give them a few hours to cool down before removing their collars?”

“They should just wear them forever,” Riddle said darkly. “Yuu. How are you friends with such buffoons?”

Grim made a protesting noise in his sleep as Riddle anchored himself on her other side. “ _Funaa._ I can’t eat anymore.”

Yuu closed her free hand over his snout nervously as the Dorm Head started turning a dull red. “Rosehearts-senpai! Umm…Don’t worry. I’ll help them catch up before exams. So don’t be angry, you’ll start storing up Blot again.”

“This kid…” Cater let out a long sigh and collapsed against her side. “Hey, Riddle-kun. These cookies are real good! Try some.”

“He’s right.” Yuu refrained from mentioning that the one who’d eaten them was her. “Senpai, don’t get yourself stressed out from those two. It’s not worth it. Right, Trey-senpai?”

“Harsh, but true,” Trey squeezed onto Riddle’s other side, filling up the couch with the four of them. “Though you tend to spoil them a little, transfer. Plus Grim here.””

“Trey has a point,” Riddle took a cookie, only looking slightly mollified. “Like I’ve said. A collapse in small rules leads to a collapse in larger ones. Any Heartslabyul student should always maintain an aura of dignity, especially a small one like Yuu.”

“ _Ramshackle_ student,” Yuu strained. “I don’t think they’d listen to me if I made them study, though.”

“Grim, at least, seems to listen to you no matter what,” Trey commented, pouring Riddle and himself tea. “Why don’t you start there? Worse comes to worst, just deprive him of tuna and he’ll smarten up.”

“As expected of Big Brother Trey-kun,” Cater snickered. “He’s got a ton of strategies about dealing with unruly siblings.”

“In the first place, this wouldn’t have to happen if the two of them behaved like people their age,” Riddle sniffed. “Yuu has it hard enough trying to catch up to sixteen years of education in this world and he’s doing _admirably_. Why on earth do they not absorb some of that seriousness from you?”

“Probably because instead, Transfer gets affected negatively by them?” Trey guessed.

“You know, Ace is really smart,” Yuu felt the need to defend her friends. “He just overestimates his abilities and gets into trouble. And Deuce works hard—we study together. He’s smart, too, just really tries to understand everything from the ground up so it takes longer.”

All three Heartslabyul upperclassmen looked at her with identical expressions of pity.

“What?”

Trey reached forwards to ruffle her hair. “Nothing. You stay that way, transfer.”

“…Well, it’s your first year,” Riddle sighed, “I suppose you’ll see in two weeks what NRC’s exams are like. But if those two receive red marks, I really will hang them from the ramparts by their collars.”

Cater snickered. “That would be a _hit_ on MagiCam.”

Yuu felt the slight relaxing of his shoulders and smiled at him in relief. Cater was hard to read and even harder to cheer up, but being around his close friends within the dorm seemed to take the worst of the burden from his back. The hand that had been so cold when she’d taken it was securely curled around her own, warm and relaxed.

—

Thanks to Yuu’s performance within the Mostro Lounge—and apparently, her ‘ridiculous taming abilities’—Ruggie had reluctantly backed off from trying to convince her to quit. His unsatisfied expression told her how he thought about it, but the lecturing stopped.

In the end, though, he refused to divulge the conversation he’d had with Azul. Yuu had badgered him about it for a while—she _always_ wanted to know what was going on—but Ruggie muttered something about it being a conversation among men and that Azul hadn’t said much. The cold glint in his eyes dissuaded her from further pursuance.

“Sometimes she really scares me,” Ruggie complained during a break in one of their magic research sessions at Savanaclaw. “I knew those eyes. Azul-kun’s _already_ sort of fond of him, though he doesn’t seem to be aware of it. This girl manages to eke out a little nest for herself everywhere! Heartslabyul, Savana, and now I feel like Octavinelle’s gonna be next.”

“Don’t say stuff like that,” Leona drawled from where he was slumped against the wall where he’d ducked a Blasting Charm that had blown through his defensive magic. “You don’t wanna give her ideas. Or turn me into a criminal.”

Yuu lowered her empty glass of water. “What does me being friendly with Octavinelle have to do with you turning into a criminal?”

“Wanna know?” Leona lifted his lip to bare a fang at her. His eyes flicked up to the wall above him. “…I thought Ruggie was gonna call you scary ‘cause of you nearly drilling a hole right through the wall. Good thing I’d cast defensive magic over everything, or else people would start to ask questions.”

“And the expenses would be _enormous_ ,” Ruggie went to sit next to her on Leona’s desk chair, nearly squishing her off. “I mean…Yuu-kun’s magic has always been pretty amazing. Guess she’s just in top form today.”

“Top form,” Yuu mused, twirling her wand as he took the empty glass from her fingers. “Actually…Maybe? I feel like my magic is really responsive to me lately. Thanks, senpai.”

“Those doughnuts you made?” Ruggie messed with her hair briefly before making a satisfied noise. “For a first-timer they were _pretty_ good. Crispier next time, got it?”

“What are you gonna do for me in return?” Yuu teased him with a grin. “Take my Flying exams for me? I’ll make you a mountain.”

“Stop flirting, you two,” Leona rolled his eyes at the both of them.

“Yuu-kun probably doesn’t understand the meaning of that word,” Ruggie yawned, stretching out his legs so that the sturdy boots thumped against Leona’s carpet.

“What, flirting?” Yuu squinted. “Isn’t that what soppy couples do that makes everyone around them uncomfortable? That’s not what we were doing at all.”

Ruggie gasped. “She sort of knows the definition!”

“There were these two upperclassmen at my old school…” Yuu grimaced. “They were both great, but would _not_ stop kissing in the hallways and stuff…pretty gross, if you asked me. Fred—er, my friend—said that what they did was flirting. Not that it was any of my business.”

“I was joking, but you sure have a skewed base of knowledge,” Leona gave her a bemused stare. “Well…you’ve probably endured living like a boy for this long because of that, but one day we’re gonna have to correct all your misassumptions properly.”

“Oh…okay,” Yuu nodded. “If you say so, senpai.”

“You shouldn’t listen to _him_ so much either,” Ruggie muttered. “Why you can trust Leona-san so implicitly after he nearly killed us is beyond me.”

“You’re here too, aren’t you?” Yuu gave him a cheeky smile. Ruggie, after everything, still could not leave Leona alone.

“Speaking of,” Ignoring him, Leona tossed her something. “Refill. Tell me when it runs out again.”

Yuu waved her wand to slow the projectile before catching it. In her palm was a transparent spray bottle identical to the one he’d given her far back in September, filled with clear liquid. “That was fast,” she said bemusedly. “I thought you told me it was expensive or something.”

“Uh, are you _kidding_ me?” Ruggie spluttered. “You’ve just been using it without asking what it was? For months! You moron, what if it was some sort of potion?”

“I was betting on Leona-senpai’s niceness towards women at that time,” Yuu said sheepishly, “though I should have been thinking more. Ow! Stop pinching me!”

“I’m gonna have to start followin’ this kid around,” Ruggie tugged at her earlobe for emphasis. “Li’l dummy. Anyway, the scentless perfume he just gave you? That thing is not only _really_ hard to find—making it is tough as hell too. Those things sell for a ton of money on the grey market.”

“Grey market?” Leona’s tail swung in interest. “You still got connections _there_?”

“ _Shi shi shi_. Trade secret.”

“A ton of money!?” Yuu yelped.

“I got it imported from back home since it’s too much trouble to make,” the Dorm Head yawned, ears folding back against his head when her voice rose. He waved a hand. “Just take it. You don’t wanna be found out, do you?”

“It’s kind of impossible to find out if what I’ve been using is this good,” Yuu muttered. “Senpai…I don’t want to owe you _that_ much.”

“I told you, it’s an investment in advance. You’re gonna find me a way to sit on the throne, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, but that’s a really risky investment,” Yuu protested.

“It costs me pretty much nothing. Stop being so anal about debts.” The Dorm Head whipped his tail in her direction dismissively. “…I have a suspicion that it’s not me who’s preventing you from being figured out, anyway.”

“What do you mean?” Ruggie asked curiously. “This stuff’s so good that people aren’t supposed to get ‘suspicious’ that she smells like nothing. It’s got a bit of a gradation effect on Therianthropes and Mermen alike…right?”

“Gradation effect? Mermen?” Yuu repeated, but no one heard her.

“…Herbivore. You say Crewel’s the one who gave you all your clothing?” Leona avoided the question.

“That’s right,” she said bemusedly. “Well, Professor Vargas gave me my shoes…and Cater-senpai made a sort of suit for Heartslabyul’s parties that I’ve only ever worn once back in September. Oh, and my pyjamas are from Heartslabyul and Sam’s store since you guys hated the old Ramshackle pyjamas enough to _burn_ them last week.”

“Not sorry,” Ruggie grinned, tapping his Magical Pen proudly. “Like I could let you keep wearing those rags.”

“They were perfectly serviceable!”

“For a garbage dump.” Ruggie shrugged. “I’ve worn worse, but you shouldn’t have to.”

“Call this a suspicion,” Leon pushed himself to his feet. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s done something to your uniforms. A suggestion…or something stupidly precise that Crewel likes to do with clothes.”

“He already did, with the underwear,” Yuu explained, “so my body shape looks like—”

“Yuu-kun,” Ruggie groaned, “ _please_ stop talking about that kind of stuff so easily.”

“Oh, sorry. Did I embarrass you?” Yuu watched his ears flatten with slight amusement.

“Cheeky li’l brat. See what I do to you,” he tugged her ear again.

“It’s not just the underwear,” Leona sighed. “…Never mind. Who cares…if you’ve even managed to get that guy on your side, nothing’s gonna hurt you. Okay, we’ve had enough of a break. Let’s go again.”

“But senpai…it hasn’t been too long since your Overblot,” Yuu scrunched her nose at him. “What if you overuse your magic?”

“You think I’d be stupid enough to embarrass myself like that a second time?” Leona breathed out his nose dismissively at her.

“I’m worried about your _life_ , not how dumb you look,” Yuu threw her hands in the air. “Oh wait. Your pride is so big you mistook it for your life.”

“Ha. You got guts, herbivore, to insult me so freely. Why don’t you come back it up with some action?”

“Just thirty minutes, okay?” Yuu hopped off the chair and readied her wand. “I’m getting used to this duelling thing and might actually blast a hole in the wall if I’m not careful.”

—

Like she’d mentioned to Leona and Ruggie while they practiced duelling back and forth (and Leona encouraged her unbridled use of magic), Yuu had gotten far better at duelling than she’d expected.

Normally, she wasn’t one to overestimate her abilities. Prior to defeating Riddle, Yuu had only done the prerequisite tasks in Defence classes, refusing to join the Duelling Club when asked, and was rather physically inept. But with her two battles against Riddle and Leona—as well as the recent play-fighting she’d been doing with Savanaclaw’s students within the dorm, her dragon heartstring core was more than eager to funnel any tiny twitch of her hand into a huge inferno of light.

Olliviander had told her that yew wands only dedicated themselves completely to an owner who had suffered great personal tragedy, and Yuu had lived a tragedy-free life until now, so she wondered why her practical magic was improving fast.

But she’d broken past Leona’s defensive magic last time and nearly cut his arm.

In short—she was getting good at duelling. Really good. Yuu had never thought herself good at anything except for studying (and _maybe_ singing) so this newfound skill felt weird on her skin.

“I still find it hard to believe,” she confided in an unusually awake Grim after dinner one evening. She’d reached for her wand to send their dishes into the soapy sink, but before it slid into her hand, they were already floating away quite merrily. Yuu knew the basics of nonverbal and wandless magic, but usually she had to concentrate for it to happen.

Did it have something to do with her wand? But she wasn’t using it…

“Am I better at magic than I thought?” she mused.

Grim didn’t see the problem. Belly bulging, he leaned back against her stomach and burped. “Who cares? You’re a big shot, woo-hoo. Now you get to make _me_ a big-shot.”

“I thought the Great Grim didn’t need any help in becoming a powerful magician,” Yuu hugged him gently to her as the dishes clattered around in the sink.

“So? Any great magician needs a sidekick. My henchman is the one that does the petty leg-work,” Grim sniffed. “You know I’ve been actually doing stuff properly, Yuu! Just watch. After exam week you’ll be the one going _it’s him! The mighty Grim_!”

“Okay,” Yuu rolled her eyes. “If you say so, mister aspiring big-shot. I guess my magic doesn’t matter so much to you.”

“Magic or no magic, you’re still Yuu,” Grim yawned. “Everything else is just gravy. Speaking of which, the gravy you made tonight was _so_ good, it felt like a river of honey plus chocolate plus…”

“Grim,” Yuu felt the words stuck in her throat, “Me too. I don’t care about anything else if you’re you. So don’t drive yourself up the wall too much studying, okay?”

Grim wriggled shiftily in her grip. “…Hmph. Don’t worry, this time isn’t gonna be like all the other times I had to ask you for help. I’ve totally got it, so you just keep being your usual dense self.”

After the two of them went through a set of strength-building exercises Vargas had recommended (so that she passed the physical portion of the exams), Yuu felt mostly invigorated even as Grim tipped over snoring. She covered him with a blanket and pulled on Deuce’s sweater before ducking outside briefly to rid the remaining vat of febrile energy still swirling around in her belly. Exercising at night-time wasn’t very good for her sleep.

The night was as chilly as could be expected from the burgeoning end of November—Yuu had wondered if snow would fall, but so far it seemed that NRC was maintaining its chill without any white flakes. Yuu was born at the tail-end of summer, but she loved winter’s quiet white blanket that muffled noise and turned Hogwarts into a picturesque castle in ice. She could not help wondering how Night Raven College would look in the wintertime.

_Will you even be here in the winter?_

She squashed down the traitorous thought and shoved the gate open a little more forcefully than necessary.

Either way, NRC’s clear spell continued. Yuu warmed her hands with her steaming breath and ducked out of the fence to tread the path that she had grown familiar with.

“HUMAN!”

“Sebek,” Yuu blinked in mild surprise. Over the hill came the loud voice she’d learned over the past two weeks. “You always show up so suddenly. Good evening.”

The Diasomnia first year slowed into a trot as he approached her, pastel green hair lit up brilliantly by the lamps he passed. As usual, he regarded her dismissively down his nose, narrowing those catlike eyes so they glowed gold in the night. “Hmph…you impolite human. Calling me by name so familiarly…have you no manners?”

“You’re the one who said to call you by name last time,” Yuu muttered, remembering one of their encounters. “Plus, you refuse to call _me_ by name.”

Sebek blinked his tawny eyes at her, light reflecting off the vertical pupils. He looked genuinely confused. “But you’re a human.”

“Yuu,” she clarified, “my name.”

“That’s what I said. Yuu.”

“…Never mind.” Yuu stifled a laugh. “How are you, Sebek? Haven’t seen you in a couple of days.”

“Of course there’s nothing wrong with me,” Sebek puffed out his chest proudly. “I’m much better than _you_ look! I take it that the aura of exhaustion emanating from you is because of your struggling for the exams next week?”

“How did you guess?” Yuu said dryly. “Sebek, you look like you’re good at physical activity.”

“As if that needs to be said. As a guard of the Young Master, how am I supposed to face him if I’m not physically fit?” Sebek answered readily.

By now, Yuu was used to his loud declarations and just asked, “Any tips for strength training?”

With the frequency of her walks outside increasing as study times doubled, Yuu had bumped into Silver, Sebek and even Tsuno-tarou a few times as November neared its end. It seemed that Diasomnia’s students were far more active at night, as there was a curious dearth of them in her classes and at the lunch table—but after making acquaintances with Silver and Sebek, she noticed the former napping in the courtyard a few times. The latter was in Class D, which meant that they were paired together rarely for joined classes.

Sebek Zigvolt, despite his severely pulled back hair and winged brows usually furrowed deep over his eyes, was typically willing to socialise (and much friendlier than he looked). Shooting up over Leona by a few centimetres and built just a little shorter and thinner than Jack, he wore his Magical Pen strapped to his side like a knife and possessed three spools of white thread hanging at his other side, to her confusion. Yet despite the unnecessary insults and slightly condescending manner he possessed, despite his intimidating appearance, Yuu could not detect the smallest inclination of malice coming from her fellow first year.

Case in point: Sebek was more than willing to discuss at length the pains he took to ‘train’ daily as a guard. Yuu was still unclear on who, exactly, he was guarding, but he took everything seriously, even her questions. Maybe his voice was a little—a lot loud…and maybe he had the tendency to stare down his nose at her and call her ‘human!’ like an insult—but compared to many of the people Yuu had met in this school, his attitude felt like a tickle.

“Are you listening to me, human?” Sebek shouted. Though it might have been his regular speaking volume.

“I was just thinking,” Yuu said sheepishly. “You use some pretty polite word choices.”

“What are you talking about? I speak normally for someone my age.” Sebek squinted at her. “Anyway, enough with the drivel! Like I said, human. In order to elevate oneself to greater heights, you must eat well, work hard, sleep tight, and play hard. Got it?”

“Yessir,” Yuu snapped him a smart salute.

“And training thoughtlessly won’t do anything!” Sebek continued, crossing his arms. “What’s important is your motive. Just like I put all of my effort into gaining strength to protect the Young Master, you too must find a reason, human! No matter how small it is!”

“A reason…” Yuu repeated. “…Like making my partner into a great magician. I see…maybe I was looking at it from the wrong way the whole time.”

“…? In any case, first you need to…”

Both of them glanced back as the sound of shoe against gravel distracted their conversation. Sebek clicked his tongue in irritation before she could see who it was in the sparse lighting. “…That Silver,” he said in a much more subdued voice.

Indeed, cresting the hill was Silver’s bright hair glowing under the lamplight. He didn’t seem surprised to see the two of them talking, although Silver hardly ever showed any emotion on his face. One hand resting lightly on his holstered Magical Pen (or was it a Magical Stick?), he blinked once before lowering his head briefly. “Sebek. …And Yuu.”

“Good evening, Silver-senpai,” Yuu ducked her head with a smile. “I think it’s the first time I’ve seen both of you at once. Are you two friends?”

“Friends!?” Sebek shouted. “As if!”

“I see you have acquainted yourself.” Silver drew up before them and regarded her closely. “…How is it? Is his voice too loud?”

“You…!”

“Sebek’s interesting to talk to,” Yuu hurried to say. “I was just asking for some advice on next Friday’s physical training exams. I’m not doing so well.”

“…You’re trying your best,” Silver said. “I’m sure your effort will be rewarded.”

“Silver-senpai…” Yuu was a little moved. “Thank you.”

“Hmph,” Sebek sniffed, “as long as you don’t fall asleep in the middle of classes like Silver, I don’t see how you could fail.”

“Thanks, Sebek.” She grinned at him. “Everyone in Diasomnia is so nice. I don’t understand why people told me you were hard to approach at the beginning of the year.”

“Hard to _approach_?” Sebek bellowed, taking offence.

“…I wasn’t aware that was the case,” Silver blinked slowly. “Although…Diasomnia is founded on the noble bearing of the great Witch of Thorns.”

“Not that you aren’t noble…both of you,” Yuu added when Sebek glared at her. “But you’re surprisingly easy to talk to.”

“Perhaps that is because you speak so easily to us,” Silver told her, crossing his arms.

“Hmph! The human is just ignorant of manners,” Sebek scoffed. “Being so familiar with me after only a few encounters. I should drill the fear of the Witch into you!”

“I think that part of Yuu is admirable,” Silver’s quiet voice was a great contrast with his dorm-mate’s. “There aren’t many in this school that are so bold.”

“To be honest, in September, I wouldn’t have done so as easily,” Yuu said sheepishly. “I’ve gotten a lot more extraverted since I came here. Even though it was by accident.”

“Hmph. First you should learn the proper manners for greeting and approaching other students,” Sebek’s voice calmed. “…Human! If you’re going to shiver so miserably, go inside! I can’t stand looking at you!”

“Should’ve brought a coat,” Yuu rubbed the sleeves of Deuce’s sweater regretfully.

Silver blinked as he looked down. “I thought you were not part of a dorm,” he queried with his eyes.

“This is my friend’s,” Yuu explained, breath clouding in the air. “That’s right. Do you guys want to come in for some hot chocolate or tea? It’s really cold outside.”

“Like I have time to be wasting—!”

“Do you have something with caffeine?” Silver cut him off. “I’m about to fall asleep again…and we have guard duty for another few hours.”

“Silver!”

“Sure, I think I can dig something up,” Yuu said bemusedly. “Um, come on in. Don’t worry, the inside is better than it looks.”

“Human! Why are you so careless? Inviting strangers into your abode is the height of idiocy! Why, I…”

“He’s always like this,” Silver murmured to her as they headed towards the fence nearby.

“You two have known each other for a while?”

“Yes. We grew up together,” he nodded once. “The place we used to live was rather…closed off. …Would you like to hear about the Valley of Thorns?”

—

“How long has he been counting those?” Yuu whispered over to Jade, who was currently hefting a heavy-looking metal tray in one hand and Floyd’s collar in the other.

He tilted his head, polite smile never fading. “Since before you came. Perhaps two hours? Isn’t Azul interesting?”

“…Interesting,” she repeated weakly. “Sure.”

“Lemme go!” Floyd struggled in his brother’s grip mutinously. “It was a damn accident!”

“Of course it was,” Jade turned his smiling face in Floyd’s direction. “I’m not _angry_ at you. However, we can’t have such things happening without the appropriate reward, can we? Now stay still.”

“Stupid Jade and his stupid experiments,” Floyd muttered. “One day you’re going to start sprouting mushrooms from your ears.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you very well.”

“Getting hard of hearing so early? Maybe you—ow! Okay, you were the one who struck first, bastard—”

The two of them broke into a scuffle on the couch. Yuu edged away from where Floyd and Jade were taking shots at each other with naked danger in their eyes and glanced back at Azul, who was sat in his usual spot behind the huge desk of the VIP room, wearing a positively frightful smile as he resorted through the considerable stack of yellow curls of parchment heaped upon his desk.

“Do they always fight?” she muttered.

“…fifty-nine, sixty. Hmm? Oh, ignore them. They’re silly teenage boys with silly priorities,” Azul glanced briefly in his friends’ direction and snorted. “As long as Jade doesn’t stop smiling, we’ll be fine.”

“And if he does?” Yuu tried weakly. She refrained from mentioning that Azul was also a teenage boy, technically.

“Then the repairs come out of his pay,” Azul didn’t seem too bothered. “By the way, these two cause almost a hundred thousand Madols’ worth of property damage every semester. Just like when Floyd put you through the table. They’re still in their growing period.”

“Senpai, if they get any taller I’m going to need a _ladder_ to talk to them,” she grimaced.

“That’s not what I meant, but I’m sure they sell ladders at the Mystery Shop.”

Despite the deepening circles under his pale eyes, Azul was in high spirits today, which meant he was even more gregarious than usual. Exam week was only five days away; in other words, Mostro Lounge was even emptier than it had been. During an empty lull in the afternoon, Floyd had dragged Yuu from her kitchen prep into the VIP Room because he was bored.

Unfortunately, it looked like he’d also managed to ruin one of Jade’s experiments. Yuu learned that Jade liked alchemy at the same time she learned that he was not above seriously punching his brother with that ever-present smile.

“How’s your studying going?” Azul asked, gathering a sheaf of parchment and setting it aside. “Could I interest you—”

“No thanks,” Yuu rolled her eyes, “how many times are we going to go through this? Actually, it’s been going pretty well. I think I’m good for next week—just wish I could get my friends to study too.”

“Why?” Azul gave her a strange look. “It’s their funeral if they are foolish enough not to exert any effort in school.”

“They’re just easily distracted! And kind of hate studying,” Yuu protested. If she were more like Azul or Ruggie, she’d have left them to their own devices, but somehow it felt impossible for her not to care. “Actually, I have no idea what they’ve been up to lately. I’ve been so busy studying that I haven’t had time to check.”

“Hmm. You’re unexpectedly diligent,” Azul narrowed his eyes at her. “…What about recommending my notes to—”

“Senpai,” Yuu deadpanned. Her voice was followed by a spectacular crash as Floyd and Jade tipped over the back of the couch, sending the metal tray skidding across the VIP Room’s floor.

“Oi,” Azul growled, “Watch it.”

“I do apologize,” Jade’s voice was muffled.

Every day she spent with these Mermen, Yuu questioned their sanity and hers a little more. “Um…are you okay?”

“Koebi-chan doesn’t look like he’ll even _last_ all the way through the strength-building exam,” Floyd came over to slump against her side, looking rather worse for the wear. “And you can’t even fly at all. What are you gonna do? Poor shrimp.”

“Says the guy who just got punched so hard in the face he’s bleeding,” Yuu fished in her pocket for a handkerchief. “Aah, it’s going to stain your uniform! Stay still for a second.”

“Oka~y.” Floyd obediently angled his scratched and bruising cheek in her direction as she carefully patted the bleeding area. “You really are a shrimp, huh? Even shrimpier than usual.”

“What is that even supposed to mean?” Yuu concentrated on his face. “I’m human.”

“Mister Shrimp…Directing Student,” Jade was suddenly on her other side, shoving both her and Floyd along the couch as he squeezed into the space he’d made. “You should leave Floyd alone after his crimes. Look, he bit my hand…boo-hoo.”

“Whoa,” Yuu yelped. “Careful! Also that looks really scary. Do we have a first-aid kit around here? People are going to think that you got attacked by a bear with your glove in shreds like that!”

“Will you treat my wounds if I bring you one?” Jade smiled angelically.

“Well…I guess…?” Yuu squinted at him. “Can’t you do it yourself?”

“Unfortunately, this is my dominant hand. Boo-hoo. I need someone to help me.”

“Jade should _never_ act,” Floyd commented before his brother reached forward and socked him in the side. “Ow! You fu—”

“You two are being disgusting,” Azul gave them all an incredulous glance. “In the first place, none of you care about wounds that small—”

“Shut up, Azul,” Jade and Floyd chorused pleasantly as the latter tried to claw the former over Yuu’s head.

“You shut up! And Yuu-san! Stop overreacting about a scratch. They’re always doing this.”

“I really don’t understand the Mermen concept of safety,” Yuu said, bemused. “Um, please hold this against your cheek for a while until the bleeding stops, Strangler-senpai. Leech-sen…oh, you brought the first aid kit already.”

While Yuu wrapped bandages around Jade’s various wounds after disinfectant—she’d learned the method from Professor Crewel over the past month—the three Octavinelle second years made idle conversation about the upcoming exams and their predictions for scores.

“Riddle-san is bound to be one of the top contenders in the second year,” Azul seemed to have finished counting his contracts (they numbered in the upper two-hundreds). “Of course, yours truly is another. Otherwise, it varies greatly by subject.”

“Leech-senpai, I thought you’d be up there,” Yuu blinked up at Jade. “And even Strangler-senpai got a perfect score on Professor Trein’s last test.”

“I wonder. As I have said, there is little value in doing especially well in classes that do not hold my interest,” Jade said politely. “…You’re quite good at bandaging.”

“I had to wear them for weeks,” Yuu grinned up at him, “Professor Crewel taught me.”

“Floyd’s scores are dependent entirely on his mood,” Azul explained with a sigh. “It’s either a hundred or a zero. And this guy tends to forget exams even exist until he’s taking it.”

“Geniuses should all just blow up,” Yuu told Floyd pleasantly.

He put one big hand on her head and squeezed, although the scary smile was rather ruined by her handkerchief still pressed to his face. “I’ll take you with me, dumb li’l shrimp.”

“Like you could.”

Azul snorted at them. “In this case, I agree with Yuu-san.”

“What? Azu~l, you don’t want me to blow up,” Floyd whined.

“Okay, it should be good,” Yuu patted Jade’s arm and pulled the sleeve back down. “Are you guys done fighting now?”

“We weren’t fighting,” Floyd blinked.

“We never fight. Right, Floyd?”

“Of cou~rse, Jade.”

Yuu turned to Azul. “How do you deal with them?”

“Only the Greats know,” Azul rubbed his forehead.

“A _ha_. It’s just Koebi-chan who has the guts to talk smack about me right to my face,” Floyd pinched her cheek again.

“You always manhandle me,” Yuu whined. “You deserve some smack-talking. My cheek! It’s gonna break!”

“Hurry up and let go, Floyd,” Jade peered at them with interest. “I’ve never seen a cheek stretch out that far. Do give me a turn.”

“For one second I thought you were going to help me,” Yuu clapped a hand over her free cheek and edged away. “Just because one of you has a completely bugged out sense of personal space doesn’t mean I’m going to let Leech-senpai manhandle me too!”

“Why, we’re _friends_ , are we not?” Jade looked up at her through his lashes. “Friends do something called ‘skinship’, do they not? Mister Directing Student is so cold. After all we’ve been through…!”

“You mean after all of your bullying?” Yuu deadpanned. “Strangler-senpai please let go of my cheek.”

“When did we bully you?” Floyd obliged her, but dropped the bloodstained handkerchief on her lap and pointed insistently at his face until she rolled her eyes and reached for a band-aid. “We’re _super_ nice. Right, Jade?”

“Of course, Floyd,” Jade’s smile was evident in his voice. “Are you sure you aren’t putting crimes on our shoulders we didn’t commit?”

Yuu, lost for words, looked to Azul for help.

“You were the one who did this,” he told her with the same merciless smile.

“You were the one who told me to make a good co-worker relationship!” Yuu protested, sticking the band-aid over Floyd’s cheek.

“That’s exactly what you _didn’t_ do,” Azul said exasperatedly. “And after both Jade and Floyd were so disapproving of you…truly, the three of you are an excellent show to watch.”

“I’m not a show,” Yuu complained from between the two Leech twins. “…You guys are so weird.”

“Oh my…” Jade lifted a glove to the corner of his eye. “To be insulted by an underclassman…my feelings are hurt.”

“Koebi-chan’s the weird one,” Floyd retorted, unimpressed. “You’re the one who stays right here in our territory after all of your complaining. You really don’t like us? Then leave.”

“I like Ashengrotto-senpai,” Yuu said with a big smile.

“Oh my,” Azul smirked at his friends. “I haven’t even said anything and I won.”

“What!? Azul’s so much meaner than me!” Floyd poked her. “You don’t get anything you dumb little shrimp. You’re _prey_ to him!”

“I’m human,” Yuu repeated, trying to wriggle away. “Stop that, it tickles! Okay! Okay! I don’t hate you, happy? You’re too interesting to hate!”

“A _haa_. Should’ve just given up while you were ahead,” Floyd, satisfied, put his chin on her head.

“How unfair, Floyd,” Jade smiled at his brother. “Haven’t they taught you to share?”

“You never share,” Floyd sounded unimpressed.

“I’m a _human_?” Yuu sighed. “Ashengrotto-senpai, save me.”

“Can you pay the price?” Azul put his chin on a curled fist, looking endlessly entertained at the three of them.

“Why did I ever step into Octavinelle again?” Yuu turned her head skywards in exasperation. Unfortunately, all she got was a face full of Jade and Floyd grinning unpleasantly down at her, heterochromatic eyes curved into mirror crescents.

Yuu gave up. It was impossible to overcome these three. It should have been more frustrating, but for some reason, she could not swallow her smile.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —
> 
> **Definitions |**
> 
> _Aka-ika-sensei (アカイカ先生)_ | the neon flying squid; sometimes called the red flying squid. What Floyd calls Trein. Trivia: they only added this in the game during Floyd’s birthday campaign; before that, Floyd called him “Trein”.
> 
>  _Ishidai-sensei (イシダイ先生)_ | the barred knifejaw; also known as the striped beakfish. What Floyd calls Crewel. It’s a pretty rare and sought after fish, as those who play Animal Crossing might know.
> 
>  _Takoyaki (たこ焼き)_ | a mixture of octopus and flour batter rolled into a ball and filled with all sorts of stuff. Used for the currently (?) popular tako-party in which random stuffings are mixed in each takoyaki ball and then randomly distributed. The poor guy who gets the super spicy kimchi version or wasabi gets the short end of the stick. Brushed on top with takoyaki sauce and katsuobushi topping. Floyd’s favourite food. Trivia: Jade’s is octopus carpaccio. Poor Azul…
> 
>  _Grim-chan (グリちゃん、gurichan)_ | What Cater calls Grim. Gri-chan seems a little bit weird but I can change it if there’s any strong opinion!
> 
>  _Acha (あちゃ～)_ | An indication of sympathy and used in casual speech. Cater sometimes says this. Can be translated to “aw, man” or “uh-oh” or “oops”.
> 
> —
> 
> One! Thousand!! Kudos!!! 🎉🥂🎆🎊🎖🥳
> 
>   
> I never even dreamed this would happen, but it’s all thanks to you wonderful readers. We’re still like 2/7ths of the way throughout the main story (not counting any of my ~other ideas~) so there’s a long way to go…!
> 
> Thank you giving this complete n00b story and author a shot (thank you for giving my side-story attention too!). I’ll do my best to continue to make the story interesting and fun to read! 👍🏻💪🏻
> 
> —
> 
> **Fan-work Policy/FAQ**
> 
> To my immense gratitude, I have already received several pieces of fanart from wonderful, talented readers in the community (privately and publicly)! THANK YOU! If I could click the ‘like’ button one million times, I’d do it (dead serious). Since I have also gotten several similar messages asking about fan-works/fan-art, I have added a FAQ section in the story’s ending notes, but I’ll paste it here for easy perusal.
> 
>  _Can I write something/draw something inspired by this story?_ | Of course you can! Permission granted. I would be very happy if you wanted to link your work to mine or show me, but that’s not necessary at all!! Fan works banzai!!!
> 
>  _Can I write or draw a fan-work FOR this story? Also, how should I send it to you?_ | Are…are you sure you want to spend your precious time on me??? 😭 Fan-works are welcome, appreciated, sought for, cried about etc. and I would LOVE to see anything you create!! The easiest way to reach me is through Twitter (@twsttanoshii) where you can privately DM me or mention me! Or you can post on whatever website you’re most comfortable with and link it. Either way, I will cry with joy!!!
> 
> —
> 
> The next update will be on ⚡ Sebek’s ⚡ birthday—March 17th! Although to give an advance warning, I have both a research presentation fair (Think Idia during the joint cultural festival) and performance scheduled on that day, so the posting will be closer to midnight CST than the usual 7 PM. Sorry!
> 
> The first-year anniversary of this game is also coming up… Wonder if they’ll do something special? And next month we get to see what Story Yuu looks like in the new serialization! Tons of stuff to look forward to ワクo(´∇｀*o)(o*´∇｀)oワク
> 
> Once again I have come to beg for your comments like Grim going through withdrawals looking for those black rocks 😈 Comments…comments…(*ﾟ∀ﾟ)ﾊｧﾊｧ  
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> —

**Author's Note:**

> —
> 
> **Frequently Asked Questions |** last updated March 2nd, 2021
> 
>   * _What should I call you? What pronouns do you use?_ | Literally anything? 😂 I wasn't thinking much when I picked my handle name, but please refer to me as "Error" if you're stuck! ("hey you" and "author" is fine too!) As for pronouns...also literally anything?? Biologically, I'm female, but having been confused for a guy in online games more often than not, I don't mind any pronouns at all 🎵
>   * _Will you write the limited-time events occurring in-game?_ | Yes! The first event was released right after Episode 3 ended, so after I finish writing Episode 3 I’ll write it. Look out for a separate story appearing then! (It might take a few months...)
>   * _What’s the side-story "Unending Night Festival" for?_ | Yuu’s not a reliable narrator, is she? Both the reader and the authour would like to explore what happens out of her peripheral vision. Other characters have their own complex motivations, pasts, and are far more confused about Yuu than she probably expects. While there won’t be story “advancements” in this side-story there WILL be some information you won’t find anywhere else.
>   * _Can I write something/draw something inspired by this story?_ | Of course you can! Permission granted. I would be very happy if you wanted to link your work to mine or show me, but that’s not necessary at all!! Fan works banzai!!!
>   * _Can I write or draw a fan-work for this story? Also, how should I send it to you?_ | Are…are you sure you want to spend your precious time on me??? 😭 Fan-works are welcome, appreciated, sought for, cried about etc. and I would LOVE to see anything you create!! The easiest way to reach me is through [Twitter](https://twitter.com/twsttanoshii) (@twsttanoshii) where you can privately DM me or mention me! Or you can post on whatever website you’re most comfortable with and link it. Either way, I will cry with joy!!!
>   * _Do you have any writing tips?_ | This is my first time writing anything out of school assignments, so I don’t know if anything I say will be useful… but [here](https://archiveofourown.org/comments/366546967) and [here](https://archiveofourown.org/comments/378300903) are some of my ideas? You can also ask anything more specific in comments!
>   * _Can you write [request]?_ | May…maybe? I’m sure there are better writers out there and ones with more time on their hands than a student slave hahaha 😇 But depending on milestones and timing, I might consider it. Don't be shy about requesting, I just can't guarantee I'll do it right away -- but if you say it I'll at least keep it in mind! Thank you for your consideration ✨
>   * _How long is this story going to be!?_ | As long as the main story runs! At least seven episodes means that we’re around 2/7ths of the way through the story—but just like how Episode 4 was 41 stories long and Episode 5 jumped to 75 (7 hours long on auto-mode!!), I am realizing that each of my chapters/story arcs are getting longer and longer… When there are over twenty main characters interacting in complex ways, it can’t be helped I guess. Plus Yuu’s story is continuing to develop too!! So TL;DR really long. If we manage to keep the word count under 1 million I’ll throw a party 😂
>   * _How do you write this story?_ | Actually, I don’t think too much about it, just sort of sit down and type. I tend to make the most progress when slightly sleep deprived or procrastinating from exams/reports/presentations/performance practice etc. When there’s a set storyline you’re following, it’s a heck of a lot easier than original writing! I do have a separate document for future planning that’s over 30k words though. (The authour is the type of person who likes scheduling and having the entire scope of the story in mind before starting…)
>   * _What does [something in the story] mean?_ | Whoops, I probably forgot to explain it. Comment or message me [on Twitter](https://twitter.com/twsttanoshii) and I’ll get back to you!
>   * _I have a question that wasn’t answered here!_ | Don’t hesitate to message me! I can’t guarantee a speedy response here, but [Twitter](https://twitter.com/twsttanoshii) messages are usually responded to within 24 hours! Repeat after me: no stupid questions exist 👍🏻
> 

> 
> —
> 
> Thank you for giving this story so much attention. I hope I was able to entertain you a little!
> 
> —

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Out of My League](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29530266) by [tsuzuroon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsuzuroon/pseuds/tsuzuroon)
  * [Protector Of Dreams](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29798049) by [Okamichann](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Okamichann/pseuds/Okamichann)




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